PlaguEd
by Solar Sunrise
Summary: What seemed like a normal day ends up becoming a dangerous journey for the cul-de-sac kids. Our favorite trio and their friends must survive in a world gone mad. There isn't many people left to trust, and they must fight to survive. But what will happen when the adventure is left up to choices that you, the reader, must make? Please review! (WARNING: Possible Character Death)
1. A New Day

**I decided I want to try writing another EEnE story. However this one will play out a bit differently as you, the reader of this story, can make choices that will affect how the story will play out. But for now, enjoy the first chapter of this new story.**

* * *

The sun was just beginning to rise on the cul-de-sac. It was the dawn of a bright, sunny Spring day. The sunlight began to shine through the window of a house and on to the face of a teenager that was wearing a nightcap and blue pajamas.

The boy began to stir and he sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. He got up and then began rushing to get dressed and brush his teeth. He stopped in his tracks and went back to pick up his high school ID.

The boy's name was Eddward, according to his ID. He had just finished getting ready and was about to go down to eat his breakfast but he stopped again. He couldn't seem to shake off the feeling that something didn't seem quite right. He went down to go get breakfast and was shocked to see his parents! Usually they would leave for work while their son was still asleep.

"Mother? Father? What are you doing here? I thought you would have already left for work." Edward asked.

"Oh, Eddward! You're up early! That's good to know, I assume you're ready for school. Anyway, to answer your question, your mother and I have been called by our boss, he has informed us that our office is closed today." Eddward's father answered. His mother had just finished making her son breakfast. The boy wasted no time in eating, though he was in no rush, he still had another half hour before school and the bus was due to arrive in about twenty minutes.

As Eddward ate, the other neighborhood teens and kids of the cul-de-sac began to also wake up. Particularly, a boy with auburn hair and a rather pronounced chin was groggily waking up. He got dressed and was brushing his teeth when he seemed to remember something.

'Oh crap! Today's the Algebra Final for Mrs. McMahon!' He remembered. He rushed downstairs to eat breakfast, studying from his algebra textbook as he ate.

"Woah! What's the big rush Kevin?" The boy's father asked.

"Sorry dad, I got this big exam today and I really can't afford to fail!" Kevin answered.

"Well stuffin' Your face like that while you study ain't gonna help. Just take it easy and take your time with the cramming alright. If you miss the buss your mom can give you a ride." Kevin's dad assured him. This seemed to calm Kevin down as he began to slow down a bit. His mom was watching the news while his dad left home for work. Kevin's attention was suddenly shifted to a breaking news bulletin.

"We interrupt this broadcast with some breaking news!" The anchorman announced. "A chemical plant off the coast of California has begun to melt down, causing several hazardous chemicals to pour into the sea. This has caused many species of fish and birds to become more ravenous with humans and attack them and any other living creature on sight. Humans and pets that have come into contact with these animals seem to be showing similar traits. The cities near the vicinity of the accident have been evacuated and quarantined from any surrounding cities. What you are about to see is live footage provide by reporter Jillian Hall on scene."

The footage cut to the city closest to the chemical plant, many birds, dogs, cats, and other people seemed to be attacking each other for no real reason.

"Oh my god it looks like the riots of '92 down there." Kevin's mom commented.

Kevin immediately had a strange feeling in his stomach, much like the one Eddward had. Something made him feel like he should stay at home today. He looked out the front window and saw some of his friends and classmates waiting to be picked up by the bus.

Two boys ran up to Eddward's house and started knocking on his door.

Back in Eddward's house, Eddward and his family heard the knocking.

"Oh, that must be Ed and Eddy. It appears that it's time for me to head to school." Eddward said.

"Best of luck to you on your exams dear, I know you will do exceptional on them!" Eddward's mom said, giving her son a farewell kiss on the cheek.

"Perform to the best of your ability Eddward!" His dad added. They were watching the same news report as Kevin's mom. They seem to recognize the chemicals that had been dumped into the ocean.

"Oh my, those chemicals appear to be extremely volatile!" Eddward's mom said in worry.

"They also cause an insurmountable effect on a person's physical attributes while causing their body to decompose much quicker. But with it being mixed with the other chemicals and sea water, there is no telling what the effects of it may be!" Edd's dad added.

As they discussed the situation, Eddward met up with his companions.

"Hey Double D." One of his friends said, greeting Eddward by his nickname. The boy was short, his hair was black and he wore a yellow shirt with a red stripe, blue jeans with a chain coming from one of his pockets and red sneakers. The boy sounded annoyed.

"Good morning Eddy! I assume your sour attitude is due to your lack of sleep and the fact that we have Mrs. McMahon's final exam today?" Double D guessed.

"Yeah well, how am I supposed to take that test when she doesn't even know how to teach! Even Lumpy is passing her class! At least she's hot..." Eddy growled.

"Well perhaps you would have learned in her class if you paid a bit more attention Eddy." Double D replied.

"Oh! I studied! I stayed up all night studying with Sarah, but she might need to study more, her only answer was 'Go to sleep you idiot'." Ed stated, Double D gave his dim-witted friend a smile while Eddy rolled his eyes. The three headed to the bus stop where the others, except for Kevin were waiting. Some of them were nervous about their exams while others took the time to study a bit more.

The tallest boy, who wore a yellow shirt with a red stripe similar to Eddy's, though it was horizontal instead of vertical like Eddy's, blue jeans and red/grey sneakers that were rather large, looked more depressed than anything. Eddy approached the boy and spoke to him.

"So Rolfy-boy, you ready for this final?" Eddy asked.

"Oh, good morrow Ed-boy. Rolf is just melancholic about our daily return to the educational system. Although, Rolf sees a glimmer of hope knowing that this time is almost completed and we shall once again partake in the merriment of the three months of the summer season!" Rolf replied, sounding more proud in his last statement.

"Whatever you say Stretch." Eddy replied. While the other kids were conversing with each other and studying, Kevin was still at home. He couldn't shake off the strange feeling he was having.

He looked to his mom and thought to himself.

'Should I do it? Should I ask her if I can stay home today? I'm not worried about the test but... today just doesn't feel right...'

It was at this moment that Kevin was left with a choice...

* * *

 **What should Kevin do?**

 **Option A:** Should Kevin fake being sick in order to stay home?

 **Option B:** Should Kevin just go to school anyway?

The choice is yours to make...

* * *

 **Thanks for reading the first chapter and I hope you'll choose one of the options. If there's anything I can include in the next chapter feel free to let me know. You can include your choice within the reviews, whichever option has the most votes will be the chosen option and the choice that is made has the chance of drastically altering the story.**

 **Until then, I hope you liked this chapter and the adventure that is to come...**


	2. The Exam

**I apologize for the delay for this chapter to come out, work has proven to be busier than I expected. Nonetheless, here's chapter 2.**

* * *

Kevin looked at his mom, who was still watching the news.

'Should I do it? Should I ask her if I should stay home today? I'm not worried about the test but... today just doesn't feel right...'

Kevin took a deep breath, he made his choice. He approached his mother, a lone drop of sweat went down the left side of his face.

"Hey mom, I don't really feel to good today do you think maybe I can stay home?" Kevin asked, faking a few coughs as best as he could to try to sound convincing, he was also holding his stomach in pain.

Kevin's mom gave him a suspicious look before giving him a smile with a raised eyebrow.

"Sweetie, you can't fool me. It's perfectly natural that you'd be nervous about this exam. But you can't skip out on school, now hurry along, you don't want to miss your bus." Kevin's mom responded, seeing through her son's façade. She hurried him along outside to join his friends.

Kevin started talking with Nazz and Rolf about Kevin's bad feeling, but they just assured him that it was just about the test and that he shouldn't worry about it. As they spoke, the bus arrived, the kids of the cul-de-sac boarded the bus.

"Well our exam isn't until after lunch, so I suppose I could give you one last lesson. Though you fellows really should have studied beforehand." Double D said.

"What, and mess up the plot?" Eddy responded with a bitter tone of voice. Ed just stared out of the window and saw everything that passed with his usual goofy, cartoonish grin.

* * *

The school bus pulled up at Peach Creek High School at exactly 8:09 a.m., classes began in 11 minutes. The Eds walked through the hallway, which was hustling and bustling with the sound of the other students that were conversing or in a panic about their final exams.

The boys were getting some of their things from their lockers when a young man approached them. The boy was rather tall and a bit muscular, he wore a green shirt that was similar in color to Ed's jacket, purple jeans and black sneakers. His hair was spiky and as a deep chocolate brown.

"Hey Ed, did you get the new copy of 'Evil Tim'? It came out yesterday!" The boy said. Ed's interest completely turned to the boy.

"W-what?! It came out! Matt, did you get it?!" Ed asked in shock.

"Yeah, I can let you read it during lunch if you want!" Matt answered, smiling at his friend. Eddy and Double D turned their attention to Ed and Matt's conversation.

"Sorry Matthew, but Ed will be with us, studying for our Math final later today." Double D stated.

"The one for Mrs. McMahon?" Matt asked, to which the Eds nodded.

"Mr. Hill, would you kindly head to your homeroom please, I need to speak with the Eds." A voice said. The four teens turned to see an older gentleman wearing a red collared shirt, khaki pants and light brown hair that was connected to a mustache and goatee.

"Y-yes sir!" Matt said, running to his homeroom.

"No running in the halls Mr. Hill." The man called out. "Sorry about the interruption boys, but I needed to talk to you in private. Please, come with me to my office."

"Of course Principal Antonucci!" Double D said, following the principal. Ed and Eddy gulped nervously while they followed along.

* * *

The Eds followed Principal Antonucci into his office and took a seat, Antonucci took his own seat at his desk. Eddy began to sweat nervously while Ed was sweating in a cartoonish fashion, they both had a desperate look on their faces. Double D on the other hand looked calm and was smiling.

"Now bo-" Antonucci began before Ed interrupted him.

"ED IS SORRY PRINCIPAL MAN! PLEASE DON'T TELL SARAH!" He shouted, groveling at Principal Antonucci's feet. Some of the other staff members heard the commotion and entered the room. "If you tell Sarah, then Sarah will tell Mom, and Mom will yell Dad, AND DAD WILL JUST SIT THERE AND WATCH TV!"

Everyone was giving Ed and Antonucci a strange and concerned look. But Antonucci kept his composure.

"It's fine everyone, please return to what you were doing." He said. The office door was closed and everything returned to silence. "Now Edward, Edward, and Eddward, you three are not being punished."

"Oh." Ed said, rushing back to his seat in embarrassment, Eddy slapped his forehead and groaned in frustration at his friend's impulse.

"Then what did you bring us here for, sir?" Double D asked.

"I just wanted to say that I'm very proud of you three!" Antonucci said, making Eddy intruiged. "Eddward, your grades are among the highest in the entire school, you'll be a shoe in for some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in Canads, perhaps even down South in the United States as well."

Double D proud of his accomplishment and grinned.

"As for you two, you've astounded me with how much you have improved since you were Freshman. Having your friend Eddward tutor you was a good decision. While your grades are not on the same level as his, you two have raised your G.P.A high enough for you to graduate. I'm sure wherever you go, you three will do splendidly!"

Ed smiled his goofy smile and blushed in embarrassment. Eddy had a pleased smirk on his face.

"Here, take this pass. You three should head to your homeroom." Antonucci said, handing Double D their pass.

* * *

As the day went by, students came and went to their classes, took their exams, and so on. The time was currently 11:47 a.m., Principal Antonucci was currently talking to one of the janitors by the front entrance.

"It's really been an honor having you here Mr. Godin." Antonucci said.

"Oh please Danny, you're not my student anymore, call me Shawn." The janitor replied.

"So what will you do now that you're retiring?" Mr. Antonucci asked.

"Me? Haha, I'm going to Hawaii! I'll visit whenever I can, but for now Danny, aloha!" Mr. Godin said, he ripped off his uniform to reveal a Hawaiian themed tropical shirt and khaki shorts. Mr. Godin bolted out of the school, allowing a sickly looking boy to enter.

This boy seemed to have a bite mark on his arm that was bleeding, he was pale yet he also looked a sickly yellow-green. Antonucci looked concerned with the boy. He escorted the boy to the Nurse's office.

'Poor kid'. He thought to himself. 'I need to remember to call Animal Control later...'

* * *

Some time later, everyone was now at Lunch. Despite nothing bad happening, Kevin still had a bad feeling.

The Eds were busy studying, their next class was Math, which meant that their final exam was fast approaching.

"Now fellows, we've covered about three quarters of sort of equations and other functions should be on our exam." Double D began to explain, Ed's attention shifted over to Matt, who was sitting with some other teens, he noticed Ed looking at him and waved at Ed, showing him the comic.

Ed bit his lip, wanting to join them, but he glanced back at Double D who was still explaining the exam to Eddy, who looked like he was about to die of boredom. He looked back at Matt and shook his head with a frown.

Matt gave Ed an understanding smile and a thumbs up, leaving him to study.

Meanwhile in the nurses office, the sickly boy was laying down on a bed. The nurse entered the room with a concerned look. She put a pair of gloves on and took out a thermometer. When she got close however, the boy's eyes widened. Revealing deep, lemon yellow eyes with blood red pupils.

The boy made an inhuman screech before biting the nurse's neck. Two security guards who heard everything rushed in, only to find the nurse bleeding out and a broken window.

"Antonnuci, we have a problem..." one of the guards said via his walkie-talkie...

* * *

Minutes passed, and the time had arrived for the teens to take their Math final. Mrs. McMahon entered the room, she was a young and attractive young woman with light brown hair, hazel eyes, and a thin hourglass figure which most of the boys enjoyed. She had a small box with the exams in her hands.

"Well class, I hope you all studied." She said. Suddenly, the intercom turned on.

"Attention staff and students. There has been an incident at the Nurse's Office, due to this incident I'm afraid school will be dismissed early for a proper investigation to take place. I apologize for the inconvenience and I wish everyone a good day." Principal Antonucci announced. Some of the class cheered at their luck. Eddy was one of the first students to dash out of the classroom and out of the school.

"Yeehaw! No exam for us boys!" Eddy shouted cheerfully.

'Huh, I guess I might have been worried over nothing.' Kevin thought to himself.

* * *

Everyone was taking advantage of their early dismissal by either studying more or just hanging out.

Jimmy was picking flowers by the lane, he was trying to rebuild his 'Garden in the Sky', when he found a stray dog that appeared to be gnawing at something. He couldn't see what it was as the dog had its back turned to him. Jimmy didn't know what to do...

 **What should Jimmy do?**

 **Option A:** See what the dog is eating.

 **Option B:** Avoid the dog and head home.

The choice is yours...

* * *

 **I apologized for being late, now I need to apologize for the result of the choice of the previous chapter. However, this does show something that this story will have. Some choices will often end up having results that may be different than what you can expect. Remember, what you think is the right choice may end up causing greater harm than good.**

 **Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will look forward to the next.**


	3. The Horror Begins

**As of this chapter the story will officially begin to take off, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the soothing sounds of 88 Fingers Eddward... Oh and enjoy the chapter too.**

* * *

Jimmy watched the dog chew whatever it was eating for a moment as he made his choice. He still couldn't see what the dog ate, and that disturbed him the most. Ultimately, he decided to slowly back away, he knew better than to interact with a stray animal, it could have a disease.

As he backed away, Jimmy accidentally stepped on a twig, the cracking sound caught the attention of the dog. It's appearance was absolutely morbid, which both terrified and sickened Jimmy.

The dog had patches of skin on its face rotting, it's eyes were a sick yellow and it's pupils were red. Just like the boy that went to the Nurse's office back at school. Jimmy screamed as he ran away as fast as his legs could take him.

'Why oh why must I be so out of shape?! Now of all times!' Jimmy thought to himself. "Sarah!" He screamed, trying to call out for the one person he put his whole faith in.

* * *

Back at the cul-de-sac, Double D had picked up Eddy from his house and they were then heading to Ed's house. Double D wanted to tutor his friends so that they could he prepared for the exam when they went back to school.

Double D rang the doorbell to Ed's house, Sarah was the one who answered.

"Hello Sarah, we were wondering if Ed was home. We were planning to study for our finals together."

"Ed's not here, he ran out of the house saying that he was gonna go see your friend Matt." Sarah answered.

"Now why on earth would he go visit Matt?" Double D pondered, until the fact finally came to him. "Oh he wants to go see that comic book!"

"We'll that's Lumpy for ya'." Eddy groaned.

"I'll never understand Ed's attraction to comics. Thank you Sarah." Double D said, but Sarah stooped the two before they could leave.

"Hey, have either of you seen Jimmy by the way? I haven't seen him since school let out."

"I'm sure he's out pickin' posies or something." Eddy said as he dragged Double D away and closed the door.

Sarah rolled her eyes as she went to go call Jimmy. The phone at Jimmy's house rang but nobody was answering it. Jimmy's dad was still at work while his mom was out buying groceries.

* * *

Jimmy ran through the streets, even going through the roads several times to avoid the seemingly rabid dog. Cars honked at the Jimmy, but the terrified boy was too intent on getting away from the beast, he didn't seem to notice the cars honking at him.

Jimmy ran back on to the sidewalk, running passed various stores, apartments, and other buildings. Jimmy saw an alleyway coming up and got an idea. He ran into the alley and saw a fence, he climbed up the fence as fast as he could. Once he hopped over the fence the dog entered the alley as well.

Jimmy thought that the dog would be unable to follow him and would turn back, allowing him to get a quick sigh of relief. The beast snarled at Jimmy and ran at him with full force. Jimmy still backed off as he was still rather close to the fence. He ended up running away as fast as his legs could carry him when the strange dog ran through the fence and shattered the metal chain as if it were nothing more than tissue paper.

The chase continued all over again, exhaustion was beginning to catch up with him, but adrenaline kept the young boy running. He pictured the dog attacking him, it was chewing on his retainer, which was coated on a thick, red liquid. Jimmy was brought out of his trance by another beeping car horn. He looked in the direction of the car, which was only several feet from him. Out of instinct, Jimmy leaped away from both the car and the dog with the last of his strength, he heard the car's tired screech and then hit something, a squishing sound resonated and caught the attention of passerby's.

"Are you crazy?! I could've hit you, kid!" The man said, getting out of the car that almost killed Jimmy.

Jimmy gasped for breath and clutched his chest, all that running exhausted him. The attention of Jimmy and the man was turned to the dog, which had been run over and beheaded by the car.

What horrified the both of them was that the dog snarled at them, though it couldn't move. The snarls grew weaker and weaker as the dog lost blood until the dog finally died. The combination of the horrifying dog, the adrenaline, and all of the running and climbing Jimmy did finally took its toll on his body. He threw up and then passed out.

* * *

Jimmy was beginning to wake up, he saw familiar figures and colors, they were his family, Sarah, and the man that almost hit him. Jimmy's mom immediately hugged him as he woke up, she was in hysterics.

"Oh my poor baby, mommy's here!" Jimmy's mom cried.

"What happened?" Jimmy asked.

"I brought you here after that whole episode with that weird dog." The man explained. "The name's Christensen by the way, Keenan Christensen."

"T-thank you Mr. Christensen." Jimmy said, he noticed that his mouth felt strange.

"Ah, I see you've noticed!" The doctor announced. He handed Jimmy a mirror, Jimmy was shocked to see his headgear was now removed, he now had normal, pearly white teeth!

"Woohoo! This is great!" Jimmy cheered, he and Sarah celebrated Jimmy's teeth. As they did though, everyone heard a loud crash followed by the screams resonating from the lower floors.

"What in the world?!" The doctor said in shock, several security guards ran to check on the cause of the crash while another entered the room everyone was in.

"We have a Code Red, everyone must exit the hospital immediately." The guard said.

Everyone helped Jimmy back up to his feet and rushed to the elevator which was powered down. The lights soon shut off immediately afterwards, leaving the hospital lit only by the exit signs and any lights powered by batteries.

"Damn, whatever's going on must have affected the generator! We have to rely on the stairs." The doctor said. The group rushed downstairs, thankfully they weren't too high up in the hospital. They all arrived at the lobby and managed to see what was causing the chaos. There were people that had the same condition as the boy in the nurse's office.

They were charging at the guards, trying to bite them in any way. The guards forced the strange people away. Eventually the guards were left with no choice but to use their weapons, thankfully the group were able to escape the hospital before any bullets were fired.

* * *

As the group made their escape, the Kanker sisters were trying to watch TV, but the sound of screaming made it difficult for them.

"Ugh, can't they just be quiet!" May groaned.

"They're gonna wake up Mom..." Marie said in a worried tone. The three sisters began to hide when they were footsteps rushing down the stairs.

It was a woman that had long hair like May, but it was a deep red color like Lee's. Her face resembled Marie, and she wore a white blouse and jeans. She was carrying a shotgun...

The Kanker's mom kicked the door open, aiming her shotgun.

"I thought I told you damn Jehovah's Witnesses that I-" she shouted, but she stopped when she saw people of neighboring trailers being attacked by the same people who were attacking the hospital.

The Kankers' mom immediately shut the door.

"What's outside, mom?" Lee asked, seeing the panic in her mom's face. She had a gun, but there was no actual ammo inside, it was only to scare people away.

"Girls, you might need to get out of the house for a while. It's going to get a little heavy here..."

Lee looked at her sister's and then back at her mom...

 **What should the Kanker sisters do?**

 **Option A:** Go find safety with their friends.

 **Option B:** Stay with their mom.

Make your choice...

* * *

 **Things are about to get kind of heavy, thanks for reading this chapter. Stay tuned for the next one!**


	4. Fight for Survival

**Sorry for the delay, college can just eat up your time.**

* * *

"Girls, you might need to get out of the house for a while. It's going to get a little heavy here..."

The Kanker's mom tried to sound as calm as she could, but after what she saw, she wasn't so sure. The sisters looked at each other and then back at their mom.

"Are you gonna be ok mom?" May asked. Their mom grinned at May and embraced the sisters.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me. I just want you to get to safety." She told her daughters. "Here, take these with you just in case."

The sisters were given a large jar of Kanker rubber cement, a few knives for self defense, and their family heirloom: the ship in a bottle.

The Kanker sisters headed for the back door, going into the woods to escape the chaos that was ensuing in the trailer park.

Once she was sure her daughters were gone, Ms. Kanker grabbed the biggest knife left in the kitchen along with a large water gun full of rubber cement. She then stood in front of the door and took a deep breath, the pounding on the door made her heart beat faster and faster.

"It's always you, ain't it Lenore." Ms. Kanker sighed to herself. "I hope Pops' patented rubber cement is as good as he and the girls said it is."

The trailer door destroyed by the bizarre people, as it broke Lenore blasted them with the rubber cement to keep them from getting any closer.

* * *

The Kanker sisters were running through the woods, they were told to go to safety, but their true intentions were to get help for their mom. Occasionally, May looked back behind her to see their mom, however they three of them were now far enough away to the point where they couldn't see the trailer anymore.

"Shouldn't we go back for her?!" May asked.

"You heard what Mom said, we can't go back. Whatever those things are, I'm more afraid of mom than them!" Marie answered.

"Quiet, I'm tryin' to call the girls!" Lee snapped, she was dialing a number on her cell phone and waited for the ringing. Thankfully, there was an answer.

"Hello?"

"Janyse, you gotta help us! Our mom's in trouble!" Lee pleaded.

"I'm kind of having my own problems right now, but maybe you can help..." Janyse answered.

"Ok girls, let's get to Janyse's!" Lee announced.

* * *

Several hours earlier, Eddy and Double D were heading over to Matt's house to get Ed.

"Where do you think Jimmy went? It isn't like him to go somewhere without Sarah for too long." Double D pondered, Eddy rolled his eyes.

"He's probably prancing around in the daisies somewhere. Don't worry about him." Eddy answered.

The two arrived at a two story house that was painted light green, the home seemed to give off a friendly atmosphere, which opposed the grey colored house that stood next to it.

"Man, it's like that girl practically drains the fun out of this place..." Eddy groaned.

"Well Janyse's lifestyle choices can be rather gothic, but she isn't as bad as you think Eddy."

"Whatever, let's just get Ed, that girl creeps me out."

Double D rang the doorbell to Matt's house, Matt opened the door with Ed right behind him.

"Eddy! Double D!" Ed greeted cheerfully, pulling his to companions into a massive bear hug.

"It's nice to see you too Ed." Double D said, trying to to get out if the hug.

"Ed..." Eddy replied.

"Yes Eddy?"

"As much as I love the smell of your stinky pits... CAN YOU LET GO OF MY HEAD NOW!?" Eddy shouted. Ed let the two go, still with a wide grin on his face.

"So what brings you two here?" Matt asked.

"Well we came to pick up Ed, we still need to study for the exam once we go back to school." Double D answered.

"Aww come on Double D! Please let me stay a little longer!" Ed pleaded. Matt's house phone begin to ring before Double D could answer. Matt went over to answer it.

"Ed, you know this exam is important, and you shouldn't spend all day here, it could become a burden on Matt's parents." Double D said, Ed gave Double D puppy dog eyes before Matt interrupted the two.

"Hey Eds, something happened with that kid, Jimmy. He's in the hospital."

This announcement thoroughly shocked the Eds, even Eddy was horrified.

"Oh my, is he alright?!" Double D asked.

"He's fine, he's blacked out but he's fine." Matt replied.

"Well we should postpone our study session to check up on Jimmy, it's important for us as his friends to support him." Double D said.

"The kid's fine, all he needs is to see Sarah and some peaches with cream and he'll be back home by supper." Eddy said, the four of them left Matt's house and we're met with people screaming and running for their lives.

"Woah, where's the fire?!" Matt asked in shock. Eddy was suddenly knocked down by a man with the same symptoms as the other ravenous people. The man tried to bite Eddy's neck, but Eddy held him back.

"HELP! GET THIS GUY OFF ME!" Eddy screamed. Ed became angry at the strange man and went to help Eddy.

"Do not hurt my friend! Zombie from the Netherworld!" Ed shouted, throwing the zombie off of Eddy and into the road, where it was hit by a bus that was trying to escape the chaos.

"Nice job Monobrow!" Eddy said, getting up off the ground and patting Ed on the back.

"Uh, guys..." Matt said, the Eds turned to see more zombies heading their way. Some of which rushed into Janyse's house.

Ed and Eddy got ready to fight back, Double D reached into his hat and pulled out a slingshot, then looking into his pocket and took out a small steel ball, he then aimed at the zombies. Matt thought for a moment before getting an idea.

"Hey guys, can you hold them off for a minute? There's a few things I can get that might help us." Matt asked.

"Go for it." Eddy replied. Matt ran back into his house to get what he needed. As he went inside, various zombified body parts came flying out of Janyse's house.

A teenage girl wearing a red tube top, purple skinny jeans, black high heels and a black jacket. Her eyes and hair were a very dark brown. Her face was surprisingly calm, she held a sledgehammer and was prepared to swing again.

"And just when I thought I could catch a break with this early dismissal." The girl groaned.

"Right on time Janyse." Eddy greeted, Ed waved at Janyse with his usual win.

Matt was rummaging through his room, he was in a panicked rush until he grabbed to strings with steel balls attached to them on both ends, the letter 'J' was painted onto each ball.

"Grandpa Joseph, don't fail me now!" Matt said to himself. He rushed back outside and gave Janyse a flirtatious smirk.

"Howdy neighbor!" He said, trying to sound cool. Janyse smiled back at Matt before she shattered another zombie.

Matt handed Eddy a baseball bat and Ed a hammer.

The four of them continued to fight their way through the increasing number of zombies, Janyse reached into her pocket and took out her cell phone.

"Now ain't the time for a selfie!" Eddy said.

"I'm calling backup you idiot!" Janyse spat. "Just cover me for a bit!"

* * *

After Janyse made her call, the battle was still going on, the five of them were beginning to grow tired.

Eddy hit a zombie away from him using the bat Matt gave him, out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw the same boy that caused the issue at school. But the boy quickly got out of his sight.

"Eddy! Behind you!" Double D yelled, slinging a ball at a zombie that hid behind him, disorienting it and allowing Eddy to finish it off. The zombie boy then pounced onto Eddy while he was distracted.

"GUYS!" Eddy shouted.

"I got you dude!" Matt shouted, leaping at the zombie and smashing his head with his iron clackers.

"W-was that James?!" Double D asked.

"A friend of ours has been infected by the zombie menace, we must fight to make sure we do not lose another comrade!" Ed proclaimed, holding his hammer to the sky.

"It's our boyfriends!" A voice called out. The Kanker sisters arrived and immediately ran over to Janyse, except for May, who embraced Ed. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to bothered as much as he looked shocked by the sudden hug.

"What do ya' need Janyse?" Lee asked.

"These... things started showing up and they attacked us, we've held them off for a while, and more ought to be coming soon." Janyse explained.

"Hey! Those are the same things that attacked us at the trailer!" Marie noted.

"They're down there too?!" Eddy asked in horror.

"Yeah, and our mom is still there trying to hold them off." Lee replied.

"We need to help her before more of those things show up!" Janyse exclaimed.

"But we have to check up on our own homes as well!" Double D added.

"And don't forget, our parents are out there too!" Matt said, which worried Janyse the most.

"Argh, ok then what do you think we should do Double D. You're the smart one." Janyse said. Everyone turned to Double D, who was taken aback by the sudden attention.

"W-well, we may have to split up into two groups. The girls will go back to the Kanker's trailer and help their mother. Fellows, we will head back to the cul-de-sac and warn everyone. If any of you see a schoolmate, inform them of the situation and bring them with you! We must not let anyone else get hurt, or worse! In a worst case scenario, we may have to leave town, so we'd best get any supplies that we may need." Double D said. Matt and Janyse then headed into their homes to get their supplies.

"And where should we go after we do all that, Sweetie?" Marie asked.

"If we have to leave Peach Creek, then we may have to head to Lemon Brook. Meet us at the city limits, stay safe."

The Kankers gave their respective Ed a hug or a kiss on the cheek, with Double D being the only one not to grimace and wipe his cheek when the Kankers turned to leave.

As they all left, James' body stood up and collected the shattered remains of his head, once he had all the pieces, he simply put his head back together. James appeared to be the only zombie that reformed. Despite his brain being essentially turned to mush in both the literal and figurative senses, James remembered what happened before he was taken down. He growled as he went to go look for Matt and Eddy...

* * *

Before all the chaos erupted, Rolf was preparing to tend to his farm when he discovered that his farm was already chaotic. The chickens we're all having spasms in their coop, Wilfred was dragging his behind in a circle on the ground, all while squealing hysterically.

Rolf's eyes went wide in panic, he took a fried turkey leg from his pocket and held it to his ear, becoming even more frightened. He rushed all of his animals into the basement of his house, which gone through some refurbishment to be large enough to hold every animal and have space to spare with feeders for all of them.

In the time he spent moving all the animals, the zombies had already begun attacking the cul-de-sac. Kevin's dad had came back from work and along with his wife, was helping Nazz's, Rolf's and Jonny's parents against the zombies. Rolf then saw the Eds arrive with Matt from the lane.

"Rolf, are you alright?" Double D asked.

"Ed boys! Fleet of foot Matthew! A great disaster has befallen among the cul-de-sac!" Rolf exclaimed in panic.

"We figured that, Stretch." Eddy commented.

"You guys get to your houses, I'll stick with Rolf." Matt said. The Eds ran to their homes, Rolf seemed to be staring into space before his eyes went wide enough to the point where they looked like they were going to bulge out of his head.

"NANA!" He shouted, running into his home, Matt followed him, not sure of what was going to happen.

Rolf ran into a room on the second floor, an old woman was laying on the bed, she was wearing a black traditional dress from Rolf's home country. She wasn't breathing...

Rolf walked up to the woman, checked her pulse, and then hung his head.

"So she has passed..." Rolf said in sorrow.

"Rolf... what happened?"

"It is my Nana. In my culture, when a person reaches a certain age, they accept the fact they will pass on to the next world and wear a ceremonial clothing. It appears as though my Nana's time has finally come. My family and I knew that it was coming, but it still pains me to accept it." Rolf explained. He then clutched his chest and sank to his knees. "My heart! My heart! It's broken..."

Matt began to console his friend, explaining everything that happened to him and the Eds to Rolf. Who was quick to help in this problem.

"I see, so we must meet at the boundary to Peach Creek and Lemon Brook." Rolf said, he pondered for moment before he and Matt headed down to the basement. Rolf brought out several pigs and goats, including Wilfred and Victor.

"The pigs and goats should prove to be useful in this mission." Rolf announced. The Eds had gathered all the kids who were still in the cul-de-sac, everyone had already gathered their equipment as well.

"Hey Rolf, is your Nana ok?" Kevin asked, placing a sympathetic hand on his best friend's shoulder. Rolf sighed, Kevin immediately backed off, knowing he should give Rolf a little bit of space.

"So um... Double D, you said we're going to Lemon Brook, right?" Jonny asked, he was clutching Plank in his arms.

"That's right, well be meeting Janyse and the Kankers at the city limits." Double D answered.

"Did you all yell your parents where were going?" Kevin asked. Everyone except Double D nodded.

"My parents aren't home, and they aren't answering their phones!" Double D said.

"Well maybe they'll call you later, besides our parents are probably going to call them at some point." Kevin replied. "For now, we gotta get to Lemon Brook."

* * *

The girls were on their way to the trailer park when they passed by the hospital, Jimmy's group was just exiting the hospital when they came across the girls.

"Kankers!" Jimmy said in horror.

"Calm down Dutch, we trying to save our mom!" May said.

"Listen, we don't have much time." Janyse said, she turned to look at Sarah. "Your brother and his friends told everyone to meet up at the Peach Creek city limits, get everything you need from your homes and meet us there. Be careful."

Jimmy's group wasted no time in heading off.

"O-ok girls!" Sarah replied, surprised by how serious the Kankers were being. She and the rest of her group left back to the cul-de-sac.

The Kanker's group continued to the trailer park where Lenore Kanker was being pushed back by the zombies.

"Mom!" The sisters called out.

"Girls, you shouldn't have come back!" Lenore replied.

"Were not leaving without you mom!" Lee stated. Lenore grimaced at her daughters before giving a defeated sigh and smiling at them.

"Were meeting up at the city limits Ms. K, we gotta hurry!" Janyse announced.

"Looks like there's no fighting it, I'm with you girls." Lenore said, leaving with the girls.

* * *

Some time later, everyone had met up with their friends and families at the city limits.

"Baby sister!" Ed called out in joy, giving his family a group hug.

"Ok, we're all here, right? Jonny asked.

"Double D still hasn't talked to his parents yet!" Jimmy replied.

"If he can't reach them then we'll call them as well." Kevin's dad stated.

"Then what should we do now?" Matt asked.

"We need to find a safe location to stay in for a while at the very least." Double D answered.

"Look! Over there!" Jonny's dad called out. Everyone turned to see the R.C.M.P heading towards them with heavy weaponry and even tanks.

"Something about them just doesn't sit right with me..." Kevin's dad said.

* * *

 **What should everyone do?**

 **Option A:** Avoid the R.C.M.P

 **OptionB:** Ask them for help.

 **Make your choice...**

* * *

 **Sorry for this chapter taking so long, college can be a hassle.**


	5. Shock and Awe

**Sorry for the heavy delay, school always seems to keep me preoccupied.**

* * *

The R.C.M.P, was on their way to Peach Creek, they rode ever closer to the group, who had a mixed reaction to them.

"The R.C.M.P!" Jimmy said in joy. "We're saved!"

"I don't know..." Kevin's dad said. "Something about them just doesn't sit right with me..."

Ed looked at the oncoming police, his eyes wide in horror. He seemed to be remembering something.

"NO! NEVER TRUST THE MILITARY DURING A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!" Ed shouted. He grabbed as many members of the group as he could and ran into the woods.

"Ed wait!" Double D called out as Ed grabbed him. The others quickly followed after them.

"Freeze!" One of the officers ordered.

"Don't bother telling them to stop!" Another officer responded. "Kill 'em before the infection spreads!"

The R.C.M.P readied their guns and began firing at the group, killing Nazz's parents, Jonny's parents, Jimmy's mom, and Kevin's mom. The kids who had just lost their parents tried to go and try to help their parents, but they had no other option than to keep running.

They eventually made their way into the sunflower fields that hung over the group, making them look like children looking for their parents. Within the sunflowers was the old, abandoned toy factory that the kids had went into during the Big Picture Show. The R.C.M.P lost them within the sunflowers, as they were too thick to see anybody through.

"Is everyone alright?" Matt asked.

"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?!" Sarah shouted. "Some of our parents just died!" She quieted down a bit as she began to console Jimmy, who was bawling his eyes out.

"Mommy... mommy..." He whimpered.

"What are you we gonna do now?" Ed asked everyone. The group then went into a frenzy of voices, arguments and cries.

"Excuse me, um... Pardon me, but..." Double D tried to say, but he could not be heard by the others, except for Rolf, who grew annoyed at everyone for not letting Double D speak.

"SILENCE!" Rolf shouted, getting everyone to be quiet. "Do you not hear the egg-headed, Ed-boy?! In this time we must seek assistance from the wisest among us! Please speak, sock-on-head Ed-boy." Rolf said, allowing Double D to speak. Rolf's parents congratulated their son for getting everyone under control.

"Thank you, Rolf." Double D said, surprised about Rolf's outburst. "Now, I understand that all of us have just gone through a thoroughly traumatizing event, lost people we hold near and dear to us, and are probably more worried about other friends and family. But we must work together to get through this. We need a safe haven to stay for a while until this disaster ends, or until we find a more suitable location to reside."

"Double D's right, we need to work together, and find a safe place." Kevin stated, he wiped away a tear from his face.

"Why not just stay here?" May asked, referring to the factory.

"Well it does need some cleaning up, but it could be suitable for us. At least for the time being, however it would also pose a large risk to us." Double D replied.

"How so?" Janyse asked.

"Well there is the R.C.M.P, for starters." Double D said, some of the group began to cry again while others had a look of fury on their faces. "But there is also the risk of the zombie-like people finding us."

"Just call them zombies Double D, jeez." Eddy groaned.

"Anyway, if we are to stay here, we will need some food, water, and perhaps some sort of fuel source. Certain cars are too loud and would attract too much attention to us, that would end up being more of a detriment and danger to us."

"Well that means we can't use the SUV..." Kevin's dad sighed.

"So what kind of fuel do we need?" Nazz asked.

"Well there are certain kinds of oils that can be gathered from certain plants, even the wind and water can be used as a former of fuel." Double D explained.

"Things like cooking oil?" Mr. Christensen asked.

"Like mustard?" Ed added, everyone gave him a confused look. The doctor coughed for a moment before he spoke. The doctor himself was a man of average size, a bit husky and he had a grey beard. He was wearing scrubs and had a white lab coat above that.

"If I may, it should be possible to extract the oil out of the many sunflowers that are outside, it may be risky, but if successful, it should provide us with enough fuel to last for months." He stated.

"Allow Rolf's family to procure the oils of the sunflower!" Rolf said in enthusiasm. "In the Old Country, the extraction if the sunflower oil was a ceremonial task done in preparation for the harsh winter months!" Rolf and his family took out a few buckets from their supplies and headed outside, they had machetes and clubs just in case.

"Some of us should go with them, as backup in case they need it." Lee added.

"Well then let's lock and load girls." Ms. Kanker said as she brought her daughters and Janyse outside.

"What about the rest of us?" Jonny asked, clutching Plank as tightly as he could.

"Well we need to start a fire to cook some of the food we have, and we should have a few of us serving as lookout, in case the zombies or R.C.M.P come again." Double D noted.

"Jimmy and I can take care of the fire, right?" Jonny said, smiling at the younger boy, despite his tears. Jimmy wiped his tears away and smiled back at Jonny.

"Yeah, we're still Urban Rangers, right!" Jimmy replied as he and his fellow Ranger went to work on the fire.

"I can take care of lookout." Mr. Christensen said. "Bird watching is a hobby of mine, never thought I'd put it to this kind of use."

"You like bird watching?" Jimmy asked in amazement.

"Yup, I even wrote a book about it."

"Do you mean this book?" Jimmy asked, pulling out a book out of his pocket via Hammerspace titled 'Flowers of the Sky: A Guide to Birdwatching'. It was written by Keenan Christensen.

"The very same." Mr. Christensen answered, he left for the roof to begin his lookout.

"Wow..." Jimmy said in awe.

"Would you like to be on lookout as well, Eddy?" Double D asked.

"Why should I?" Eddy spat.

"Well it thought it wouldn't be so different from looking out for 'pigeons' to scam like you would during our youth." Double D half joked.

"Well you got a point... Fine." Eddy groaned as he went with the lookout team.

"What about us Double D?" Sarah asked.

"Well Sarah, we still need to clean this factory a bit if we are going to stay here." Double D answered.

"Okay..." Sarah groaned as she left to go clean. The doctor approached Double D.

"Pardon me young man, but I must say that I am very impressed at how you took control."

"Why thank you Doctor... Um..." the slim teen responded.

"Oh! Where are my manners! Doctor Samuel Vincent, at your service!"

"Well thank you Doctor Vincent!"

"Your name is Double D, correct?"

"Well Doctor that's only my nickname, my name is actually Eddward. Spelled with two d's."

"Well Edward, you seem like an intelligent and well rounded young man. As such, if like to teach you what I know about medicine and first aid." Doctor Vincent explained, Double D grew excited.

"That would be amazing! Thank you Doctor!"

Doctor Vincent took Double D and a few of the others into an office to study.

* * *

The rest of the day went by without any issues. Rolf and his family were cooking food for everyone with the large amount of sunflower oil they collected. Some of the kids who couldn't contact their family tried calling them again.

Eddy's parents talked to each other for a moment before they took Eddy aside with them.

"Eddy... We need to talk to you, kid." Eddy's dad said sternly.

"What's wrong, Pop?" Eddy asked.

"Were worried about your brother..." Eddy's mom answered. Eddy grew nervous when his brother was mentioned. He and his friends didn't forgive him for what happened during the movie. But in spite of that, Eddy was still worried for him.

"We've been thinking of telling everyone that we should go out and find him." Eddy's dad said. Eddy turned to the others, who were eating and talking more casually. Eddy wasn't sure of what to do...

* * *

Several yards away from the factory, a group of teens saw the Peach Creek Gang inside the factory...

"Should we go and ask them for help?" One of them asked.

"I don't know, they could be with the feds." Another replied.

"Or more Zombies!" Another blurted out in fear.

"Well there's only one way to know for sure." A fourth teen said as he headed towards the factory.

"Hey Armando! Wait up!"

* * *

 **No choice this time, you'll have to wait and see what happens next. Hope you liked the chapter!**


	6. Peaches and Lemons

**Happy New Year readers! Hopefully this year ends up being more positive than 2016.**

* * *

The group were all having dinner, using some of sunflower oil that Rolf and his family had gathered. While everyone was eating, May noticed something.

"Hey, wheres Dutch and that other guy?"

Looking around, everyone noticed Jimmy and Keenan were nowhere to be seen.

* * *

On the roof of the factory, Jimmy and Keenan were still on lookout... well mostly Keenan, as Jimmy's focus had drifted to owls and other wildlife that were around the factory.

Jimmy hummed to himself as he looked around with his binoculars. He admired the orange glow of the setting sun, the diurnal animals that were getting ready to go to sleep, and the sunflowers swaying in the gentle late Spring breeze.

Jimmy looked at the road and saw five teens heading towards the factory.

"Mr. Christensen, look! There are people heading to the factory!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"What!" Keenan replied, he looked at where Jimmy saw the teens. "We need to tell the others!"

The two began to head back downstairs, encountering the Eds and Matt on the way.

"People are coming! They could be zombies, or with the R.C.M.P, or theyre vicious tjieves wanting to take our supplies! I'm so frightened!" Jimmy squealed.

"Theres a group of teenagers heading over here. We have to be ready. Jimmy may be overreacting a bit, but in a way he's right." Keenan explained. Ed became serious and grabbed Jimmy, stuffing the timid boy in his jacket pocket.

"Fear not my small friend! For as long as Ed, the Zombie Hunter, is here, I WILL PROTECT YOU!" Ed shouted. The others looked confused but knew Ed meant well, Jimmy looked horrified at the fact he was in Ed's pocket.

"Good for you Lumpy, but we got get everyone ready." Eddy said as the six of them headed back downstairs.

* * *

Everyone got ready by the entrances of the factory, wary for the five that were approaching. They turned every light off and got into positions to attack if it waa necessary.

The front door opened, letting the last rays of sunlight enter the factory. Five teenagers entered the factory, the light allowed everyone to get a good look at them.

There were two girls and three boys in the group. The first girl olive skinned and curvaceous her curly brown hair was the first thing everyone noticed about her. She wore a black tube top and blue jeans with brown high heels. The boys immediately thought of Nazz when they saw her. Nazz herself nudged Kevin in his guy with her arm, Kevin blushed in embarrassment as the two had essentially been in an on again off again relationship.

The second girl was much thinner than the first. She had dark skin and her hair went down to jer upper back. She wore a dark purple shirt and navy blue jeans with white sneakers. She also had thick glasses and seemed much more nervous compared to the rest of her group.

The first boy wore a white jacket but nothing underneath, dirty, torn blue jeans and brown boots. He was holding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. He had greasy brown hair and an annoyed look on his face.

The second boy was short, like Eddy. He had blond hair and wore a brown buttoned shirt with green camo shorts and shoes. He was also slightly chubby. He hid behind the first boy, who towered over him and the others, except for the third boy.

The last member of the group was a towering mass of a boy. He wore a black tank top with a flaning skull, black shorts with a chain coming from his left pocket, and brown hiking boots. He had a buzzcut so it was difficult to determine his hair color, but looking closely, one could see that he had dark brown hair. The boy's eyes had a look of fury.

"Think we can take 'em?" Eddy asked his friends in a hushed whisper.

"Eddy are crazy? That large boy will destroy us!" Double D whispered back at him.

"We can just let Ed handle him." Eddy replied.

"You guys suck at whispering."

The Eds looked up to see the second tallest boy looking down at them from tjeir hiding space. The Eds raised their weapons, everyone else fighting got into a position to fight.

"Easy, people, easy! We're all healthy people here. Or at least mostly healthy. We came because we're looking for a place to hide." The boy said. Kevin got a closer look at the two tall boys.

"Hey, I recognize you! You're on the Lemon Brook Lumpers!" Kevin announced, being captain of the Peach Creek Cobblers, Kevin had been in enough games for his school to recognize members of their rival team. "Mendez and Sampson, right?" Kevin referred to the largest boy as 'Sampson' and the second tallest as 'Mendez'.

"Good eye. But I guess that figures coming from the captain of the Cobblers." Mendez replied.

Nazz seemed to recognize the curvy girl.

"I've seen you before, you're one of the cheerleaders for the Lumpers, right?" Nazz asked.

"Yeah! I'm Erin!" The girl replied. "Say, you use to work at Glitz 'n Glamour didn't you!"

"Yeah, but I had to quit, it looks nice on the outside hut the managers are total jerks! I'm Nazz by the way." Nazz replied, the two girls shook hands before the other girl spoke up.

"Well since we're all introducing ourselves, I suppose it would only be fair if I introduced everyone. My name is Kathleen but you may refer to me as Kathy, you have already met Erin, the young man over there with the blond hair is Peter, and your friend over here seems to be acquainted with Tony and Armando, who are on our school's sports teams." Kayla introduced.

"She talks just like Double D!" Ed quickly pointed out.

"Great, another goody-two-shoes genius." Eddy groaned. Kayla raised an eyebrow at Eddy's comment.

"Oh don't you mind them. My name is Eddward, with two D's, but everyone refers to me with Double D. My friends over there are Ed and Eddy." Double D greeted.

"Mendez and Sampson know me, but for those who don't, the name's Kevin."

"My name's Nazz, nice to meet you!"

While everyone was greeting the group and welcoming them, the Marie stood away from the others, which her mother was quick to notice.

"Whats eatin' ya' Marie?" She asked. Marie was glaring at Kathy, who had appeared to have struck up a conversation with Double D.

"It's that smart girl, I don't lsike her talking to my man!" Marie admitted.

"You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend." Lenore said, raosing an eyebrow.

"Well, he isn't officially my boyfriend but..." Marie began but her mother stopped her.

"If you like him, tell him. It's easier to get over rejection if it goes badly than to let it eat at you from inside." Lenore said. "Now where the rest of that food, we have guests now."

Ed approached Tony, who wasnt really talking to anyone.

"Wow, youre really big!" Ed said with a goofy smile.

"Hehe, thanks!" Tony replied, his voice was similar to Ed's and he had a sinilar goofy smile. Sarah pushed Jimmy over to the two. Jimmy was shaking and looking up at Tony in fear.

"Um... h-h-hi..." Jimmy squeaked out, Jimmy still held the binoculars he used from being on lookout, which Tojy noticed.

"Hey, I have one of those too! I use it to look at all the pretty birds by my house!" Tony announced. His statement shocked Jimmy and put him more at ease.

"You like birdwatching?!" Jimmy asked to which Tony nodded eagerly. "Then do I habe some stories for you!" Jimmy said with glee as he took Tony away to talk to him and Keenan.

Eddy and Peter glanced at each other and scowled.

"What are you looking at, Chump?" Both said simultaneously.

"Chump?! You're the chump!" Both repeated.

* * *

Everyone went back to dinner, with the Lemon Brook group joining the Peach Creek group. The topic of the town of Lemon Brook soon cropped up.

"So this predicament has affected the land of our rivals in physical competition." Rolf said.

"Yup, and we were thinking Peach Creek might be safe but since you're here then we were wrong." Armando replied.

"So where do we go now?" Jimmy asked.

"Actually, there's somewhere our family meeds to go..." Eddy's mom stated.

"We need to find out if our other son is alright..." Eddy's dad added.

"I suppose that seems reasonable." Dr. Vincent replied.

"Where is your other child?" Rolf's father asked.

"He lives in a mobile home at the amusement park called Mondo A-Go Go..." Eddy replied. The Peach Creek gang grew nervous. In contrast, the Lemon Brook gang looked excited.

"Mondo A-Go Go?! That place rocks!" Tony proclaimed.

"So why don't we head off now?" Peter asked.

"With the zombies and corrupt law enforcement out there? The best we can do at the moment is stay put." Kathy replied.

"Well what should we do then?" Lee asked.

"At the moment we should get our rest." Double D began as he took out a map of Canada. "In the morning we will habe to head through Lemon Brook and Orange River into the woods. From there we should reach Lime Lake by nightfall."

"So i guess thats the plan. I'm going to bed, night y'all." Lenore said.

"It would be wise to get some rest, we leave in the morning." Double D added.

While everyone went to bed, Matt approached Janyse.

"Hey, let me know if anything happens. If it does, I got your back." Matt said, giving Janyse a thumbs up.

Janyse raised an eyebrow but grinned at her neighbor.

"I can take care of myself." Janyse replied.

"Oh... Right..." Matt said as he left Janyse. When she was out of her sight, he slapped his forehead.

"Stupid! Stupid!" He said as he hit himself, careful not to draw any attention to himself.

* * *

Later than evening, while everyone was asleep Armando was writing in a journal, looking around to see if anyone was awake. He had a sinister look on his face and he had his barbed wire bat nearby just in case. Before closing his journal, Armando wrote one last thing:

' _If I can keep these pigeons on my side for as long as they're useful, I can survive. Those two smart ones, Eddward and Kathy, they need to go. Quickly. Armando Mendez will not die anytime soon.'_

* * *

 **Sorry for the lack of a choice in this chapter and the previous one. But there WILL be a chapter choice in the following chapter. As for this chapter however, how do you feel about the Lemon Brook kids. Reviews are welcome and healthy criticism is accepted.**


	7. Bitter Lemons

**Starting with this chapter, the characters will be on the move much more, enjoy!**

* * *

Everyone in the factory woke up fairly early, some kore willing to wake up than others.

"Well, day two of factory life." Eddy groaned.

"Aww, cheer up Eddy! At least we have all of this cool stuff!" Ed said cheerfully, taking out a whooped cushion he found in the factory, blew it up and then flattened it, laughing at the fart noise produced by it.

"Shorty has a point though." Armando noted. "Staying here isnt the smartest move, we're sitting ducks if we stay."

"So what do you think we should do, smart guy?" Marie taunted, prompting Armando to respond with a nasty glare.

"Ok, let's keep things calm here, okay?" Nazz pleaded.

"Well Peach Creek is full of zombies by now, either that or the army's there dealing with them, and if one of those two groups don't kill us, the other will." Kevin explained.

"Well Lemon Brook isn't safe either." Kathy began. "We came this way to get away from these zombies."

"So what do we do?" Peter asked. "Head to Peach Creek and deal with what's there, or go to Lemon Brook, and deal with what's there?"

"Well, seeing as how Peach Creek is closer to a more urban environment, I think we know what the better choice is." Kathy remarked.

"Rule number 2 of zombie survival, never go into a highly populated area, the risk is too high!" Ed warned. Armando raised an eyebrow at his statement.

"No offense, but I thought of Ed to be... Not so bright." Armando commented.

"Well he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed but Ed does have his moments of brilliance, mostly when the topic of anything related to science fiction is mentioned." Double D explained.

"I see..."

"So I guess we're going to Lemon Brook then?" Sarah aaked.

"Looks like it, I guess we should get a move on." Jonny said as he began to pack up, the others began to follow suit. The Lemon Brook gang looked either nervous or downright afraid.

* * *

"Are you all sure you want to head to Lemon Brook?" Erin asked.

"Yeah, we could go to Peach Creek instead!" Tony added

"We already decided Lemon Brook is the safer option, can't back out now." Lee responded. Tony began tearing up a bit at her response.

"No... I don't wanna go back there!" He cried.

"What's with him?" Janyse asked.

Peter sighed before he answered.

"We found Tony crying around his family when we found that the zombies got to them already."

"So his family got turned into zombies?" Ed asked.

"No, we just found them dead..." Armando answered

"Then... It could be possible that they may have become zombies by now." Matt noted.

"If they turned into zombies... Then I gotta know for sure." Tony stated.

"We'll be here with you just in case!" Jimmy said at his new friend.

"Thanks little buddy!" Tony said, finally having a smile on his face. Sarah smiled at the fact that her best friend seemed more cheerful, knowing what happened not even twenty-four hours ago.

The group saw the city limits to Lemon Brook, which was about the same size as Peach Creek, though it was much more urban as opposed to the suburbia that was Peach Creek.

"Hmph, never been here before. Wish we could've under better circumstances." Lenore sighed.

"I've visited Lemon Brook on a business trip once before, it's a typical urban city. However with this sudden disaster there's no telling what's going on there now." Dr. Vincent explained.

"I still think going to Peach Creek is the smarter choice." Peter scoffed.

"If we went to Peach Creek and somehow made it past there, where would we go next, what's there for us? I'll tell you what, a highway leading to one of the biggest cities in Canada! It might as well be a giant target!" Janyse replied with an annoyed tone. Peter glared at Kanyse, who wasn't afraid to fight.

"Please, just stop arguing!" May called out.

"May's right Janyse. Besides, he ain't worth it." Marie said, holding her friend back.

"We're almost there, so now you get to see why we didn't want to come back." Erin said, her voice cracking a bit.

As the group entered the town, they began to understand what Erin meant. At first glance it looked quiet and normal but up close the city was badly damaged, buildings were set ablaze and falling apart. There were no people around, one could assume they either escaped or were taken by the zombies.

"This place has definitely seen better days." Eddy's dad said.

"Its like a twister hit this place." Keenan added.

"That's where I was just before all this shit happened." Peter said solemnly. He pointed at a video store. "I work there, or use to work there I guess. A bunch if people ran in screaming about zombies. Next thing I knew I was running home to check on my family. They were all trying to get me to safety. I met up with them and we decided to get out of town. You know the rest from there."

"Well we can't just sit around and reminisce, we need to keep moving." Armando exclaimed.

* * *

The group continued heading through the city until they reached a library.

"This is where I was when this disaster began." Kathy began. "I needed a place quiet to study in for my final exam in Biology. Naturally it was quiet, so you can only imagine my surprise when a group of people came in panicking about a zombie apocalypse. Thankfully my family headed over for their home country of Jamaica a few weeks ago."

"Well we better head in there... Look!" Jimmy called out, pointing to a group of zombies nearby. Thankfully, the group was not seen by them.

"Damn it! It isn't safe here either!" Kevin cursed.

"Allow Rolf and his family to deal with these cursed bodies of the undead!" Rolf stated as he and his parents readied themselves for battle. Everyone held them all back.

"Forgive us Mr. And Mrs. Vorlick, Rolf, but we can't let you go out there! We dont know how many are out there and if you attack them they could call out for more of their allies, or worse, the army!" Double D pleaded. The Vorlick family hesitantly stood down.

"So if we can't go out there, what do we do?" Keenan asked.

"We must continue moving until we get out of Lemon Brook." Double D replied.

"If we can get out of Lemon Brook then the next best place to go is Cherry River." Nazz said.

"And Lime Lake is close to Cherry River! Remember when we went to summer camp there last year, Sarah?" Jimmy added, his fear seemed to go away at least a little bit when he mentioned the summer camp.

"I know! That summer was the best!"

"We should probably move out again once the coast is clear." Lenore notified the group. "Which way do we go from here though?"

"We need to go Southeast from this library, be ready just in case we are attacked though." Dr. Vincent warned.

* * *

An hour passed before the group could get out of the library, heading in the declared direction. They were passing through a neighborhood when Erin stopped everyone.

"Wait!" She said. Her face full of dread as she looked in the direction of house that had a large hole in its side. "That's my house. I was on the phone with my friend when the zombies started attacking. I heard a loud crash so I went to see what it was and I saw my dad fighting off one of them while my mom told me to get to safety. My dad made the hole, he went to college in America and played Football." Erin explained.

"And you're telling us this because...?" Armando asked.

"Its my dog, I want to make sure she's ok."

"A canine could be a useful ally in this type of situation. It could be useful for defense if it is a breed with senses built for survival." Kathy elaborated.

"And if it isn't a breed known for combat or survival, an animal companion could help boost morale amongst us." Double D added. Kathy and Double D smiled at each other, as if respecting each other's intellect. Marie growled to herself in jealousy.

"You heard the man, go for it." Eddy said, nobody else had any objections to Erin's request.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Erin thanked as she ran back into her home. She came back out holding a leash with a German Shepard that had a K-9 Unit cloth on it. The dog also had a collar with its name on it; Coco.

"Guys, this is Coco, she's my dad's dog. But they're also technically coworkers, she's super friendly too!" Erin announced, introducing her dog to the group. Coco walked towards Sarah and Jimmy and began playing with them, much to the preteens enjoyment.

"No time to play with the pet, we need to move!" Peter reminded them. Before the began moving, they saw Tony sitting on a curb a few houses down the block. He was crying. Everyone rushed over to him.

"What's wrong Tony?" May asked. Tony's hand shook as he pointed to the house behind him. The house, or what was left of it, was painted a soft green. However the house was more or less torn down. It was tough to make out but a few of the group saw severed limbs of a man, woman and little girl among the damaged house.

"That's my house..." Tony whimpered. "Before this happened I was in my backyard practicing Football with my dad when we heard someone break the front door. We went in and saw a group of zombies attacking my mom. We were too late to save her. My dad told me to go get my little sister Olivia and we were almost out of the house too. But they ended up killing my dad too. Olivia was mad at the zombies because she aaw them hurting our dad so she tried to hit them. There was nothing she could do... She was only five years old... FIVE YEARS OLD!" Tony explained as he broke out in tears.

"I had to leave, I wanted to survive. At least for my family, so I ran until I found Armando and we found Erin, Peter, and Kathy too."

Nobody knew what to say, except for Jimmy who walked up to the grieving teen and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"And were going to!" He said. "Were going to get through this, we just have to stick together and survive! Because friends are there to help you!" Jimmy's words made Tony smile and wipe away his tears. Just as Jimmy looked like he was about to start singing, Armando stopped him.

"NO!" He said sternly. "None of that! No singing! Shame on you..."

"Hey, isn't your house not too far from here Armando?" Tony asked.

"Yeah but there isn't anything I need to get from there. Let's just keep moving." Armando replied. With nothing else to say, the group pressed on. They ended up passing Armando's house on the way to the city limits.

"Wait!" Rolf called out. He and his family began sniffing the air for something.

"Rolf's family smells the scent of death.' Rolf said.

"More zombies?" Matt asked. The teens got into battle stances, ready to fight.

"Not the undead. Just death." Mr. Vorlick told them.

"Its probably my family..." Armando admitted. "The zombies got to them, I was taking a nap and I woke up to the sound of crashing. My brother told me to run and don't look back. Look, let's just hurry out if here, Lemon Brook has bad memories for all of us."

Everyone seemes to understand and accept Armando's response, except for the Vorlick family. They gave Armando a suspicious look. Once he knew all eyes were off of him, Armando looked back at his house and glared at it, specifically at a hpuse on the second flood.

Armando's house was empty, but in the room he glared at, blood splattered the walls. More blood pooled out from under the bed. What lied under the bed were three dead bodies. However these corpses weren't the result of a zombie attack, they had three large cuts from their necks. The bodies themselves were of an old man, a middle aged woman, and a young teen with glasses. All three were of Hispanic descent, just like Armando...

* * *

The group did eventually make it to the city limits, but a small horde of zombies blocked the path.

"Get down!" Ed said loud enough for the group to hear but quiet enough so that the zombies wouldn't. Ed grabbed as many of the group in his arms as he could. Everyone hid in a nearby building, some of them looking outside to see where the zombies were.

"What do we do now?" Jimmy asked.

"We must do what all great warriors must do! Stand our guard and fight!" Rolf suggested.

"I'm not sure your friend knows what he's doing." Kathy responded. "A zombie's strength is akin to that of a processional boxer! We're better off trying to sneak past them."

"We could stay put too. Wait until its safe, y'know." Eddy said.

"Well we need to do something. So we should make a vote. We can either stay put, sneak past the zombies, or fight our way through them." Kevin announced.

 **What should the group do?:**

 **Option A:** Stay in the building until it's safe

 **Option B:** Get past the zombies using stealth

 **Option C:** Fight their way through the pack of zombies.

 **The choice is yours...**

* * *

 **Make your choice carefully for an option may not be as good as it first appears.**

 **And I apologize for the fact that this chapter is very late. Personal issues are currently my major priority. But rest assured that I'll do what I can to release the next chapter out much more quickly.**


	8. Onward to Cherry River

**Continuing from where we left off...**

* * *

"Well we need to do something. So we should make a vote. We can either stay put, try to sneak past the zombies, or fight our way through them."

The sound of growling and snarling suddenly got everyones attention as a group of three zombies barged in from the next room of the building, one of them managing to bit Sarah and Ed's mother in the back of her neck.

"MOMMY!" The two siblings screamed out.

"LET GO OF HER!" Their father shouted as he punched the zombie in the center of its face. The other two zombies soon crowded around him. The zombies outside heard the ruckus and found the group. Despite the knife he had, Ed's father was soon killed.

"You... YOU BASTARDS! DAVID WAS MY FRIEND!" Eddy's dad shouted as he charged at the zonbies, revving up a chainsaw he had. While he had managed to decimate the zombies that had killed his close friend, one of them bit Eddy's dad in the leg.

"Dad!" "Robert!" Eddy and his mom screamed, helping the man up to his feet and to safety while the others fought off the zombie horde. Sarah used her brute force to tear limbs off of zombies and bash others with them.

Rolf and his family did the same though they also used weapons such as clubs to bash the zombies into pieces. Rolf himself even used Victor as a makeshift battering ram.

Jonny tried to help bring Jimmy to safety but when a zombie grabbed Plank and tried to bite the hunk of wood, Jonny became enraged, pouncing on the zombie.

"Let go of my buddy you big bully! ARRGH!" Jimmy said, pulling on the zombie's head until he decalitated it, saving his friend.

While everyone was fighting off the zombies, Jimmy was hiding behind a tree, he looked at the chaos and saw Sarah. A zombie was behind her and was ready to strike, she herself was unaware of it as she was dealing with zombies in front of her.

"Sarah!" He screamed, but she couldn't hear her over the madness. Jimmy shivered with fear, his retainer falling out of his pocket as he shook. He studied it for a second, he had kept his retainer as a sort of reminder of how long he had to deal with it and was able to get by having it, and despite all the troible it caused having it around and the restrictions it brought, he overcame them.

Jimmy then felt a fire in his heart, feeling a surge of rage just like when he was furious at Eddy and beat up Double D in the process. Jimmy charged at the zombie, his retainer clutched tightly in his hands as he pounced on it, using the retainer as a garotte. He pulled with all his might and managed to cut the zombie's head in two!

"Help me!"

Ed and Double D turned around and saw Eddy being grabbed by several zombies with one about to bite into Eddy's head.

"Eddy!" Ed screamed as he charged towarda the zombies. A pebble zipped by Ed's head and right into the zombie that almost bit Eddy, splattering what was left lf its head all over the pavement. Ed then took care of the other zombies holding Eddy, which set him free.

"Eddy, are you alright?" Double D asked, his voice full of concern.

"I'm fine." Eddy answered, he sounded rather embarrassed about having to be saved again. "Did we get 'em?"

"From the looks of it, yeah." Kevin replied.

"It's not safe here, we need to leave. Now." Kathy reminded them.

"But my husband was bitten!" Eddy's mom said in a panic.

"It's ok, I can still walk." Eddy's dad said, trying to stand up and move only to fall down after taking a step.

"Sir, I'm afraid you can't walk in this condition." Dr. Vincent stated. "Now while zombies may be, or rather were once a being of fiction, if their behavior and physical composition is the same as in the realm of science fiction, then their bites are toxic and could cause you to become one of them."

"Are you saying in going to turn into one of those things?!"

"It isn't certain but there is a large possibility. However I refuse to let that happen and I believe all of us would agree."

"So what should we do doctor?" Eddy's mom asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm afraid there is only one solution, and I'm not certain it will work..."

"Well what is it do?! Spit it out!" Eddy rushed.

"We must amputate his leg..." Dr. Vincent said in a somber tone. Eddy's dad looked horrified but he sighed and relented.

"Do what you gotta do doc."

"We may need some time though. I have to ask you all to watch over us as I begin the operation. Eddward, I know this may he sudden but I may require your assistance."

"Of course doctor!" Double D said.

"Would it be alright if I joined you as well?" Kathy asked. "If something like this were to happen again then we may need more people ready to do another procedure like this."

"Of course! Now come, hurry!"

The four hurried over behind a tree and some bushes to begin the operation. Eddy grabbed Double D's shoulder as he was about to leave.

"Hey Double D, make sure my old man makes it through this, he might give me a hard time but he's still my dad." Eddy pleaded, he looked serious and afraid. Double D hesitated for a few seconds, he had never seen Eddy act this way.

"Dr. Vincent and I will do everything we can to make sure your father pulls through Eddy, you have my word." Double D answered.

* * *

Fifteen minutes had passed, everyone could hear Eddy's dad grunting in pain. He would habe been screaming had he not used a block of wood to bite down on. Dr. Vincent didnt habe any form of anesthesia to dull the pain so they had to do the procedure without it.

Eddy and his mother were anticipating the results of the operation with bated breath, they were fearful before but now they looked like they both might uabe heart attacks.

Once the operation was over, Dr. Vincent helped Eddy's dad over to his family. His left leg was now amputated up to the knee, he was a bit pale.

"Oh my God, Robert." Eddy's mom cried.

"It's all good, Rachel." Eddy's dad answered.

"The operation was a success, he should be fine. However he will require some rest."

"What happened to the leg?" Eddy asked.

"As morbid as this sounds, I have it packaged in several plastic bags and stored in a cooler. If we can find a sort of laboratory with the right equipment then we just may be able to crack the code of how people became zombies and if there is a way to stop or reverse its effects."

Meanwhile, Ed and Jimmy were trying to console Sarah, who was crying about what happened to her family. Ed and Eddy joined them and placed a hand on Ed's shoulder.

"Ed... Are you alright." Double D asked, Ed nodded. He obviously looked upset but he wasn't crying, he then stood up and sighed.

"I know things like this can happen, guys. It happened in the comic books, the heroes always go through a lot of trouble and pain in the beginning, but they always go on and survive for as long as they can, never forgetting the memories of the ones close to them that they lost." Ed explained, leaving his best friends shocked at the depth of his words.

"That was... Rather profound of you Ed!" Double D said in awe.

"We've waited long enough, we need to keep moving forward." Armando reminded everyone.

"So where are we headed again?" Erin asked.

"Lime Lake I guess, that's where these two kids went to summer camp." Peter replied.

"Actually the camp isn't too far from here. I don't know how long of a walk it'll be but on tje bus rides Sarah and I had to camp it was only about ten minutes. Cherry River is really close to the camp." Jimmy explained.

"And Cherry River goes right into Lime Lake, we would always go there on Saturdays to swim that summer." Sarah added, wiping the last of her tears away from her face.

"So we have a set destination, we just have to hope it's still standing." Kevin announced, the group headed on the road towards the camp by Cherry River. The Vorlick family gave Eddy's dad a walking stick to help him keep balance, it took a while but he got accustomed to using it.

* * *

After about forty-five minutes of walking the group arrived at the camp. It was deserted but it was in good condition.

"Alright, we should probably split up into groups and look around the camp for any supplies, rations, or zombies that might still be in camp." Keenan announced.

While searching, Sarah and Jimmy found a carving they put on one of the cabins.

"Hey Jimmy, remember this?" Sarah asked. The carving was of the names of the four kids who shared the cabin 'Sarah, Jimmy, Stacey, and Russ: best cabin friends 4 ever'

"I wonder where the two are now?" Jimmy asked.

"Hopefully in a safer situation..." Sarah sighed.

In the camp's mess hall, Nazz and Kevin found the camp's food stock. Most of it was canned food though there were other foods like hot dogs, marshmallows, juice, water, bread, etc.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot, come on let's get everyone in here, we can eat and plan ahead." Kevin stated.

* * *

Some time later, everyone had gathered in the mess hall, those who were hungry were eating while others brought in a chalkboard from the arts and craft center along with a map of the camp and several first aid kits from the nurse's office.

Double D, Kathy, Kevin, and Nazz laid out the map and chalkboard for everyone to see.

"May we have everyone's attention please." Double D asked. "We have a plan for our next course of action! Kevin, you have the floor."

"Thanks man." Kevin pointed to the chalkboard, which had a hand-drawn layout of the camp, Lime Lake, and a nearby waterfall along with the roads.

"Ok, so we're here at Camp Maraschino, Cherry River is twenty feet South. If we follow it then we'll end up at Lime Lake." Kevin explained, he then gave Kathy a chance to speak.

"Lime Lake then leads into Canary River which, in turn, goes into Watermelon Falls. The nearby town of the same name should be the next place we go for supplies."

"Excuse me for interrupting." Eddy's mom exclaimed. "I don't mean to sound like a broken record but my family and I want to make sure our older son is alright. He won't answer any calls. He's living at the Mondo-A-Go-Go Amusement Park. For those of you who have met him I know he is a bit... brash and difficult to get along with but we still worry ahout him." The main cast shuddered a bit at the mention of Eddy's Brother, not forgetting what happened during the movie.

"Mondo-A-Go-Go... That's by the coast and in the general direction we're going in, but adding to our numbers could help us in the long run." Kathy pondered.

"I'm going to be honest here." Eddy began. "Mom, Dad, I know you don't like me cursing but I jabe to say it: my bro is an asshole. But he's still my brother and we gotta help him."

"He's a dork but I think you might he right. Even he doesn't deserve to die out here like this. So if we go after him, where would we he going exactly?"

"Well we'd have to go through Pineapple Desert, Prune Swamp and Pear Cliffs, which would take us South and then back West. It would take us a day or so and we'd be there by mid-day." Nazz calculated. Armando raised an eyebrow in intruige at the mention of the desert.

"Plus Mondo-A-Go-Go is close to the border to the United States. We would end up in Washington, but if Canada is already dealing with this epidemic then it could he worse down South. This did all start in the state of California after all." Double D added.

"Alright..." Kevin said before taking a moment to ponder.

"So we go find Eddy's brother then. We have a goal and we need to get it done." Janyse exclaimed.

"Heh, I guess so." Kevin chuckled.

"That's Janyse for ya'! Always on top of things." Lee joked.

"Nice going neighbor!" Matt said with a bit of a blush. Janyse smirked as she latted Matt on his head.

"So are we doing this then?" Marie asked everyone.

"I guess we are!" Kevin said. "It's still early and we have everything we need for now. We could get moving now to Lime Lake."

"Then onward we move!" Rolf proclaimed as everyone set out to the lake.

* * *

Back at Lemon Brook, James found the zombies that the group had slain earlier. Another horde of zombies followed James. These zombies were one's from Peach Creek... one's that either the group or the R.C.M.P had already slain.

James took the remains of the zombies and put them back together, sticking the limbs together using a drop of what used to be his blood but was now a sickly yellow and green looking liquid. James squuzed this liquid onto the torso of the zombie that Double D destroyed the head of.

Every single zombie that the group had dealt with began moving again as though they were never killed (again I suppose). Once every zombie was reanimated, they followed the road the group went on and headed towards the camp...

* * *

 **No choice to be made this chapter and for the next either. This is because it will contain a large amount of plot development. Consider it a taste of what is to come in the chapters following. But for now I hope you enjoyed.**


	9. How Things Came To Be

**This chapter will be just a bit different than the previous ones but it will give insight into another character's perspective of the situation.**

* * *

'Another day. Another day closer to graduation.'

This was the thought James Miller had as he woke up. James was a boy who was a bit overweight but was still very active, he even played as a Wide Receiver for Peach Creek High School's football team with Rolf, Kevin, Matt, and the Eds.

James had just gotten out of bed when he looked at the clock. Shock and horror overcame him when he saw what time it was. He rushed into his closet to get dressed, going to brush his teeth and get an apple for breakfast before rushing out of his home, his dog barking and wagging its tail at him in excitement.

"Can't play Zippy, I gotta go!" James called to his pet. 'Great! Of all the days to oversleep and miss the bus it has to be the day of my math final!' James thought.

As he was sprinted across a street, he ran through the park as a shortcut. This is where he saw a cat being attacked by a dog. The cat was convulsing as the dog tore at its insides, James began to gag at the sight. He did his best to suppress the gagging as he ran past the two animals, upon seeing James, the dog stopped devouring the cat and ran after him instead.

James heard the dog running after him and groaned.

'Just my luck...'

* * *

The two ran until James arrived at the school's gymnasium, the only thing between him ans the school was a simple fence.

'Almost there, now all I gotta do is get inside! But this stupid dog won't go away!'

James reached the fence and began to jump over it but the dog leaped onto him and bit his forearm as he jumped.

"Ah! Son of a hitch!" James cursed. He tried stepping on the dog's tail to make it let go but it refused to release him. James saw a nearby dumbbell and began hitting the dog with it, crying as he did, as a dog lover he would have never considered doing that but in his panic and time constraints, he felt like he had no choice.

The dog finally realised James when a good hit to the head got to its brain, killing it.

James didn't speak, not wanting to reflect on what he had just done, however he noticed a strange purple and green liquid seeping out of the dog's mouth.. He thought of going in through the gym's door but he couldn't just barge in through the gymnasium entrance as he would probably get stopped by a guard, thinking that he was trying to skip classes. This left James to go in through the front.

James checked his watch; 8:07, he was barely on time.

'At least I made it... I definitely gotta see the nurse after first period.' James thought. The arm that was bitten began to shake violently, James looked at the arm and was horrified. His arm turned a cold and dead blue color, the bite marks pierced the skin, however blood wasn't seeping out of it. James' vein was slowly turning yellow in the affected area, arteries sere turning green.

James ran towards the front door of the school before his legs suddenly felt heavy and weak. He collapsed right by the steps of the front entrance.

'Gotta... Make it... To the nurse... Hospital... Help... Anyone!' He thought. His vision suddenly blurred and became hazy. He saw the front door open and a man in his early sixties came out wearing a Hawaiian themed shirt.

"I'll visit whenever I can, but for now Danny, aloha!" The man said. When James saw the man he felt a sudden urge to kill the man and devour him.

James tried shouting at the man for help but the only sound he could make was inhuman grunts and screeched.

For some reason James felt hungrier than he had ever felt before. His sense of smell also seemed to increase as well, he sniffed at the air and smelled something that piqued his interest, he drooled as he made his way into the school. James was then face to face with a man, a man he recognized as Mr. Antonucci, the principal of Leach Creek High.

"Jesus." Mr. Antonucci said to himself upon seeing the state James was in. "Come with me James, I'll get you to the nurse. As Mr. Antonucci brought James over to the nurse, he realised that the enticing aroma he had smelled earlier was coming from Mr. Antonucci, other members of the school faculty and every student in the classrooms. This made something snap inside James' mind, once James was inside the nurse's office he was attended to by the school's nurse. She also had the same fragrance as everyone else. As nobody was in the room with them, James punced on the nurse, screeching demonically as he bit a chunk of flesh from her neck.

The nurse screamed loudly as James bit her but the screams died out when James tore the flesh from her. Knowing that people would come after that scream, James jumped from a nearby window and ran into the woods nearby...

* * *

James made his way back into the city, things seemed busier than usual form some reason. He jumped out of a tree and onto a sidewalk, as James looked around for his next target a man accidentally bumped into him.

"Oh! Sorry about that, kid. I'm a little out of it today, see I'm tryinv to strike up the courage to propose to my girlfriend today and-" The man tried to say but James bit him before he could finish, as James bit the man he could feel a tingling sensation from his mouth, as though he was drooling as he bit his prey.

James continued to bite people until he caught a stray dog, by this time the police had been notified and were about to arrest James.

"Freeze!" An officer shouted. James turned at the officers, his appearance shocking and disgusting them to the point where a few of the officers vomited. James' skin was a rotten yellow color, his veins and arteries visible through his skin, his eyes changed into a sickly yellow with red irises.

James bit the dog, some of the officers fired at James with their tazers but they had no effect on him. The dog escaped into the lane while James ran into the woods.

The dog ran until it saw a squirrel nibbling on an apple, quickly pouncing and killing the small rodent. As it chewed on the squirrel, Jimmy had appeared to pick flowers when he had seen the zombified canine...

* * *

James continued to terrorize the town of Peach Creek for another hour, the number of people he had zombified were increasing every moment. He had found the scent of more people to devour and was following it, he had found the Eds fighting of zombies with Matt and Janyse. Despite being a zombie, something made James recognize Eddy and the others. He rushed towards Eddy and grabbed him.

"GUYS!" Eddy shouted.

"I got you, dude!" Matt shouted as he destroyed James' head with his iron clackers. For James, everything went dark. But then he seemed to be able to sense where he was, he felt pain all over what use to he his head. He began gathering the pieces of his head and putting all of the pieces back together.

A seething hatred swept over him, rembering what happened to him, the image of Matt killing him and defending Eddy made him want their blood.

James spent the rest of the day following Eddy and Matt's scent. He arrived at the city limits and was met with the R.C.M.P...

'There's another one! Kill it!" One of them shouted. The officers fired at James, who became more nimble after being fired at before and after his first death. He slaughtered a few of the officers before more zombies arrived and killed the rest. The R.C.M.P called for backup which took only a few minutes to arrive, the battle between the zombies and the R.C.M.P lasted for several hours, though James ended up slipping away from the battle, choosing instead to go after the survivors.

He continued to follow the scent until he reached the factory, he hid in the nearby sunflower field for cover. Upon smelling the number of people within the factory, he headed back to where the zombies and R.C.M.P were fighting, the officers had won and moved into Peach Creek. The amount of dead officers and zombies was staggering, the smell of rotting flesh filled the air but James was unable to smell anything. Piece by bloody piece he put together all of the zombies, converting all of the human corpses into zombies as well. By the time James was done the sun was beginning to rise...

* * *

James and his zombie horse all headed towards the factory the survivors were hiding in, it was empty as the group had all headed towards Lemon Brook. As they followed the scent of the group, a man and his family ran out of the city and came face to face with the horde.

"Stay back!" He shouted, brandishing a knife. James stepped towards the man, who tried to stab James. One of James' fellow zombies took the stab for James, allowing him to kill the family. The horde pressed on as if nothing happened, one of the zombies converted the family as they entered Lemon Brooke.

James searched the area for the survivors but found nothing until he could smell them heading towards Cherry River. As they arrived at the city limits, James took the time to reanimate every zombie that had been slain, including Ed and Sarah's parents...

* * *

The horde continued until James pinpointed the current location of the survivors: Lime Lake. It didn't take very long for the horde to arrive there, as they surrounded the group from the trees, James saw Armando, holding a large rock in his hands about to strike Kevin before he and his horde made their move...

* * *

 **And that is where this chapter ends. For those of you who may be confused about James, he is actually a very minor character who appeared in the show. During the episode where Eddy learns Kevin has a fear of needles, Ed knocks over a cabinet with the medical files of students, one of them is of a boy named James and a picture of him appears in a few frames. His name and design are based off of 'Big Jim' Miller, who is a storyboarder for the show.**

 **But as for the story now, things will begin to pick up in the next chapter...**


	10. Showdown at Lime Lake

**It's time, time for what you may ask? Time for a showdown!**

* * *

The group followed Cherry River over to a large lake with a small beach and empty clearing with some wooden tables and a campfire pit nearby. The sight made Sarah and Jimmy think back to their time at camp. The lake was bustling with their fellow camp members as the counselors used the canpfire pit to cook food for everyone, everyone would gather around the campfire pit and sing songs while roasting marshmallows.

Despite the chaos ensuing the lake seemed calm and peaceful.

"So from here we should follow the river over to Watermelon Falls, that'll take us close close to Pineapple Desert." Kathy explained. While everyone contined to ponder the course they would take, Armando picked up a large rock, looking at the rest of the group afterwards. He did his best to remain out of everyone's sight and he waited for the right moment.

He then heard rustling from nearby bushes, as he turned to see what was causing the noise a zombie rushed towards him. Armando swung the rock and smashed the zombie's head in tiny bits, getting the attention of the rest of the group.

"Nice try motherfucker!" Armando hissed.

"Are you ok?!" Jimmy asked, many other zombies revealed themselves from out of the foliage. Everyone scrambled to defend themselves using anything around them and everything they brought with them to fight against the zombie horde. The number of zombies attacking was at least one hundred and fifteen (115).

The group fought off as many zombies as they could, Eddy used his baseball bat to kill a zombie that he was fighting while another zombie charged at him. Eddy saw the zombie and soon everything seemed to go into a sort of slow motion for him as though he was staring death in the face.

"SHAKLAHAH!"

Rolf suddenly appeared in front of Eddy and annihilated the zombie with a strike from a wooden club.

"Flat as a pancake headed Ed-boy, you must remember to stay alert!" Rolf warned.

It took a moment before Eddy snapped back to reality after being stunned by everything that had just occured.

Tony and Kevin each put on a football helmet and motorcycle helmet respectively, the two looked at each other and nodded, charging at some zombies with enough force to completely break some of their limbs off or just straight up destroy their entire body.

Jimmy and Johnny worked together to hold some of the zombies in place while Nazz, Sarah and Erin were able to take them down. Keenan helped the girls using a switchblade he had found in the campsite.

Kathy twisted a rubber band around her hand and used stones alongside Double D and his slingshot to accurately take zombies down. The two conversed and calculated the perfect angle to hit the zombies either head on or by ricocheting some pebbles off of trees to hit zombies. The two high fived each other, impressed with how well they worked together.

Marie watched them, growing increasingly more annoyed at how Kathy was interacting with her crush.

"Marie!" Lee snapped, drawing her sister's attention. "You can't get distracted now, we gotta help Mom and Janyse!"

Marie and her sisters took out their water guns and sprayed their rubber cement at the zombies, allowing their mother and Janyse to kill them using their shotgun and sledgehammer respectively.

Ed manhandled as many zombies as he could, though even he could only handle so much, Perer came to his aid holding two machetes in his hands, slicing any zombies that got close to Ed.

"Muscles can only do so much, take one of these." Peter said as he gave Ed one of his machetes.

The battle continued until James walked out of the trees, shocking Matt and the Eds.

"I thought I got rid of him!" Matt shouted.

"James?!" The Eds said simultaneously.

"A classmate of yours I assume?" Kathy asked.

"Yes, that is James. Or at least what he's become. James was an old friend of ours, while we were in Peach Creek he attacked Eddy. Matthew was able to dispose of him before but we never expected he would come back!" Double D explained.

"So youre telling me that even though hes technically an undead zombie, you killed him again and he still came back?!" Lenore Kanker asked.

"Apparently so, and if he can regenerate himself, it may be possible that these other undead monsters can!" Double D said in horror.

"They are learning!" Ed said. "We must kill it again and run!"

"That's the solution you have?!" Armando shouted. "How about this? It'll cost us some fuel but we can try using it to blow him to pieces!"

"Use up our fuel? Are you crazy!" Nazz snapped though Armando refused to listen as he took a bucket of the sunflower fuel Rolf's family had gathered, took out a large cherry bomb and a strange type of firework from his pocket and lit it.

The group tried to stop him but they were too slow as he doused James with the fuel and threw the cherry bomb in it, Armando ran behind a tree as fast as he could. James caught the cherry bomb, the fuse quickly ran out and he looked at the bomb and then the group before the bombs exploded. A huge blast of orange and white flames covered the lake as the firework scattered into small multi-colored lights that scattered throughout the area, hitting everyone and knocking them unconscious.

When the noise died out Armando surveyed the effects of the blast. James's body was completely destroyed and his body parts were completely scattered and blown apart, mixing in with the destroyed parts of the other zombies. The group was all unconscious from the blast, allowing Armando to sigh with relief. He packed everyone up onto the wagon Rolf's family ownes and despite the weight, he managed to push it along...

* * *

Hours passed by, one by one the group awoke in the desert.

"Oh my aching head." Eddy said as he woke up. Nearly everyone was awake though not everyone who was with the group from the start was present, or so it appeared...

Eddy saw his father kneeling, the man was crying. Eddy walked over to his father to see what had him so upset by as soon as he saw what his father was holding his heart stopped for a moment. It was the head of his now dead mother. Eddy sank to his knees and clutched his head in his hands, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Guys... She wasnt the only one..." Erin called out, her voice cracking in fear as she began to panic. Those who chose to see saw the head of Dr. Vincent

"Swriously?!" Keenan shouted as he cautiously went to go inspect the head of the doctor.

"W-where's all our stuff?!" Sarah asked, the wagon holding everyone's supplies was not with them.

Kevin, Rolf and Kathy were the first to connect the dots, Double D was too busy consoling Eddy.

"That motherfucker!" Kevin shouted.

"The Lemon boy has done this! Rolf had a feeling that he was not to be trusted!" Rolf said before cursing in his native landed.

"The last thing Armando did before we all blacked out was use the fuel we had to blow up that zombie boy, then he must have brought us all here and obsconded with out supplies!" Kathy explained to everyone.

"But why would he kill my mom?!" Eddy snapped, his face had a look of grief and anger.

"To send a message..." Ed replied. Ed was looking off into the vast distamce of the desert as everyone looked at him in confusion.

"A message, Ed?" Double D asked.

"Mhmm, he was only using us so that he could survive and this is his way of telling us that he doesn't need us anymore and now he wants us dead." Ed explained.

"How does he know this?" Peter asked.

"I believe Eddward mentioned earlier that Ed is a very genre-savvy person. He knows about zombie apocalypses so it isn't outside the realm of possibility that he has read about this kind of scenario." Kathy explained.

"So what do we do now?" Keenan asked.

"We gotta do something!" May noted.

"We must find shelter!" Ed proclaimed, his words echoed throughout the desert, the setting sun began cascading an orange glow that seemed to illuminate the entire desert.

"Ed's right." Kevin said. "I don't think we'll last too long if we just head out right now. We've got to be in Pineapple Desert right now but we don't know what part of it." Kevin explained.

"So we must set up camp for the night and aet off for our next destination in the morning." Double D said.

Rolf and his family set up a fire using parts of their clothes, even though it took a while to get it going, they had heat to help them get through the night, in the morning they would be forced to traverse through the desert...

* * *

Hours earlier after Armando had dragged the wagon with the group away from the lake something horrifying happened. The zombies James had arrived with reassembled themselves and reassambled James as well, with every piece they had. However some pieces of James had been obliterated and could not be salvaged, this forced James to attach himself to another zombie and gain control of it, as though he was some sort of parasite leeching off it its host. James signaled the zombies to continue moving, the horde pressed onwards, although they didnt seem to have a goal, they pressed forward, seemingly to make their numbers grow...

* * *

 **The group is left at what could be their lowest point, can they survive? Or will this be their end? Choices for the story will return in the following chapter but for now i'd love to hear what you think.**


	11. Desolation

**Alright, lets get this story moving again!**

* * *

"I can't believe we trusted that- ARGH!" Kevin shouted. The sky was beginning to grow dark under the setting sun and the temperature of the desert was decreasing rapidly. Lenore and Keenan buried the heads of Dr. Vincent amd Eddy's mom, they thought it was the right thing to do...

"No time to focus on that lowlofe right now." Lee stated. "We're freezing out here!"

"She's right, we need to make a fire to keep ourselves warm for the night." Janyse added. Some of the group turned to Jonny, who quickly hid Plank behind him.

"NO! I can't let you use Plank as firewood! He... He's all I got left!" Him by pleaded, his voice cracked under his sobs. Double D sighed in defeat.

"We can't use Plank, in a scenario like this it's important to keep a level head and if we burn Plank then the effects it would have on Jonny's mental stability could be catastrophic."

"So what do we do?" Marie asked, claspinf Double D's hand. Eberyone was quiet for a moment before May pulled a wooden backscratcher out of her pocket.

"You know I went to boot camp once when I was a kid, one of my friends back then actually used nacho cheese chips as a fire source. Would that work now or was it just dumb luck?" Eddy's dad asked.

"Well, potato chips with cheese flavored powder do contain various chemicals that are extremely flammable. However where would we even get the chips?" Double D responded.

"Oh! I know! Ed proclaimed, reaching into his pocket and grabbing a bag of 'Jake the Jaguar's official Nacho Cheese Chips'. Some of the group gave Ed some strange looks.

"He's so resourceful!" May swooned as Double D took out some gloves from his pocket and grabbed a chip from the bag. Kevin brought out a lighter and ignited the chip, which lit up almost instantaneously, thankfully the flame wasn't powerful enough to burn Kevin's hand. Kevin dropped the chip, everyone watched the chip burn for a few seconds after it hit the sand.

Ed looksd at the burning chip and then at the bag in his hand several times.

"Cool!" He said to himself. He then reached for a handful of chips to eat but Double D stopped him before he could.

"Ed, no! That is our fuel source for the night, mister!" Double D said as he took the bag and dumped its contents on the burning chip. The fire slowly began to spread until it erupted into an enormous flame that prompted everyone to jump back a bit.

"And that is why I don't consume junk food..." Kathy sighed.

"Well we have a fire now but we dont have any food." Janyse stated.

"It's definitely not enough for everyone but I do usually bring a few PB and J sandwiches with me whenever I go on a long trip." Kevin said, Nazz was about to snatch the bag and start digging in since she loved Kevin's PB&J sandwiches. The thought of food made her remember her remember that she also had something to eat though it was only miniscule, she pulled out three lollipops from her pocket.

"It's not much but I have these." Nazz said, her tone made it clear that she was rather ashamed at her contribution. Though almost nobody else had food on them anymore after Armando's betrayal and theft of their supplies.

"Well thankfully I took the liberty of preparing several lunches that I had anticipated we would eat at a time under... better circumstances. I just hope Armando hasn't absconded with them as well..." Double D said.

"Um, you mean these?" Matt asked, pulling out a small red box out of his nearly empty backpack, its emptiness being a result of Armando obviously taking almost everything inside. The box itself contained three plastic containers consisting of cooked rice, vegetables and small pieces of cooked chicken or beans for anyone who didn't eat meat, at the current time though everything had become cold.

"Yes that was what ibwas referring to, I suppose if this is everything we have then we could ration this until we come across another surplus of food that is available in a town that is hopefully nearby." Double D answered.

"Oh! Oh!" Ed called out, waving his hand as though he were a student eager to answer a question in class.

"Ed?"

"I've got some gravy cakes!" Ed said, opening his jacket to reveal several blobs of gravy that have appeared to have coagulated into a oval shape that were stuck to the inside of Ed's jacket. Ed grabbed one of the blobs and offered it to the group. "Want one?"

The group either stared at Ed in shock, horror, disgust, or a combination of all three. Kathy turned to gag, Tony however looked in amazement and wonder about how the gravy actually managed to not completely ruin the jacket and remain in place. Matt was laughing hysterically at all the reactions.

"ED, YOU GROSS BABOON!" Sarah hollered.

"Um, Ed, we appreciate yoir offer but we'll have to decline." Double D responded.

"Uh, yeah!" Eddy added. "Think of it this way, Lumpy, more for you!"

"Maybe we should eat before Ed ruins our appetite..." Keenan said, everyone ate as little as they could to properly ration the little food that they had. Without a word, everyone tried their best to go to sleep...

* * *

Jimmy was the first to wake up the next morning, the cold had woken him up as the flames of the previous night had died down and only a pile of burned potato chips and burned sand stood where the fire was. The sun was slowly beginning to creep out from the darkness...

Jimmy shivered a bit as more of the group began to awaken. The slowly rising sun began to provide a miniscule amount of heat.

"Well, we survived the night. Now what?" Janyse asked, rubbing her eyes. She looked down at the spot where she was sleeping and noticed that she was sleeping on top of Matt. Janyse blushed as she quickly got off of him.

"Now we just have to find any source of civilization." Kathy answered as she surveyed the area.

Double D looked at the growing shadows cast by the group and rocks nearby. He positioned himself so that the sun rose on his right.

"Armando most likely brought us here after passing through Watermelon Falls, which should be to our East. We need to follow the direction of the sun." Double D exclaimed.

"And how'd you figure that out Galileo?" Peter asked.

"Simple, the sun typically rises in the East and sets in the West. Following that direction should lead us to Watermelon Falls."

"But why can't we just keep going West? Isn't that where we're going in the first place?" Nazz asked.

"It is, however going West would only lead us through the desert for about another day." Kathy explained. The sky began to turn blue with daylight, prompting everyone to stop wasting time and begin heading Eastward.

* * *

Hours had passed, the group was still in the desert. The time according to Kathy and Double D was nearly ten in the morning. The heat was beaming down on everybody, Jimmy had to be carried by Sarah to conserve energy, though Sarah herself was already exhausted.

"Look!" Eddy called out, pointing to a cactus in the distance. He took out a pocket knife and dashed towards it. Peter, Matt, and Ed hurried after him. The cactus has little needles but was quite abundant in a strange deep purple fruit that was growing all over it. Eddy cut off a fruit for each of the four boys which they hungrily wolfed down.

"Eddy, no!'" Double D called out, far too late to stop them.

"Chill, Double D!" Eddy said, hiccuping immediately afterwards. Double D examined Eddy's eyes, which had turned the same purple color as the fruit.

"Oh my... I read about these fruit in my Botany class. They have extremely hallucinogenic properties!" Kathy exclaimed.

"Is there any way to help them?" Erin asked.

"I'm not sure..." Kathy replied solemnly.

"Well we gotta keep moving." Kevin stated. "Can they walk?

Erin took Peter's hand to coax him into walking. Peter seemed to walk as though he was intoxicated.

"Woah, when did the road turn into jelly? Haha." Peter laughed as he continued to sway on his feet. The other boys seemed to walk just fine. Ed was going through some sort of heat flash as he removed his jacket and began fanning hinself with his hand, everyone seemed confused at this because while the heat was a burden on them it was not affecting them as much as it was affecting Ed.

Eddy began to climb on top of Ed, the look on the short boy's face made Double D remember when he had an epusode of insanity when he was unable to scam the rest of the kids when there was a quarantine several years ago. Tony however simply stared at the blue sky above them though he was able to walk perfectly fine, Jimmy and Sarah wondered what he could be seeing.

Rolf's family said something in their native language that seemed to correlate with the boys' conditions.

"What did they say?" Marie asked.

"My family has seen these symptoms in the Old Country, we call it Ugress. Also please excuse Rolf's family's silence, they are still not very accustomed to the English language." Rolf explained. "We had usually quelled the symptoms with an edible variation of the Carbunkle of the Flesh Stew."

Eddy, despite his trance, seemed to hear the stew Rolf had mentioned, upon hearing it he began to quack.

"We better move before Eddy loses what little sense he has left." Janyse joked. The group continued their trek through the desert, wary not to interact with any plants and to make sure the four boys who were not in their right mind were safe and secure.

* * *

Hours continued to pass, but something caught Tony's eye...

"Look! I think I see a building!" He called out. Everyone hurried over to the building and were relieved to see that it was not just one building, but an entire town! The town of Watermelon Falls to be exact.

Watermelon Falls was abandoned after the recent events, everyone was either taken by the horde or had escaped to find a better place to hide. As the group wandered through the town, they heard what sounded like people playing cards. Everyone got their weapons ready just in case, they followed the sound and wound up in front of a restaurant where they could see four men playing cards at a table, some sandwiches and open bottles of beer beside them.

Peter stumbled into the restaurant and got the attention of the men.

"Hey guys, what are ya' just standing here for? These circle birds can help us!" Peter said, hiccuping just as Eddy did. With their cover blown, the group entered, some still brandishing their weapons just in case.

"Hey there, didn't think anybody would still be in town." One of the men said, he wore a black and white buttoned down shirt with a white undershirt, black jeans and white sneakers. He was thin but looked fit, he had what looked like the hilt of a kitana at his side.

"Who are you guys and what happened here?" Kevin asked.

"The name's Anthony." The second man said, he wore a white shirt and blue jeans with black sneakers and a baseball cap. He was of average build but had a very light beer belly "That's Jojo." Anthony directed them to the man that initially greeted them.

"Diego." The third man was tan skinned and and muscular" he also had a baseball cap but he instead wore a red and blue aoccer jersey, torn blue jeans and blue sneakers.

"And that's Gibby." The fourth man was of Asian as opposed to the other three, who were clearly Hispanic. He was muscular and wore a red shirt and green pants with black sneakers.

"We found the town abandoned and figured we might as well stay here while its safe. What I don't get is why this place looks untouched. Every restaurant still has food in the fridge, the stores still have clothes on racks, even the first aid kits are untouched." Diego explained.

"So how did you guys even get here in the first place?" Lenore asked.

"We were with a tour group from the States when the outbreak happened, we tried getting the rest of our group together but we lost them, I hotwired a car and got us out here and weve been here for about two days." Diego replied.

"Very well then, would it be alright if some of us stayed here while the rest went out to get supplies?" Kathy asked. Some of the group stayed behind to rest while everyone else left to get supplies. Amongst the gatherers was Kevin, who seemed to give those that were staying behind a sort of silent warning to be careful just in case the four men tried anything.

"Did they drink some of those peyote plants?" Jojo asked.

"Peyote?" Sarah asked, tending to her brother who had fallen asleep.

"Well its not exactly a peyote plant, but it does have effects on people that are really similar to peyote plants." Anthony replied.

"Also peyote is a Central American type of cactus that has a chemical inside of it that has hallucinogenic and psychoactive properties." Gibby explained. "Diego here tried one because he was thirsty and had the same problems as your friends here."

"You know a way to help them?" May asked.

"Yup, give us a second." Anthony said, getting up to head into the kitchen, coming back with a brown liquid that looked similar to coffee but was bubbly and carbonated like soda, he poured the liquid into four cups for the boys, Ed chugged it while the others were a bit slower to gulp it down.

After finishinf the drink their eyes turned to normal and soon their stomachs began to growl.

"Oh... What happened?" Eddy groaned. He and the other boys suddenly clutched their growling stomachs in pain. Without a word they all rushed to the bathroom.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?!" Sarah shrieked, her shrill voice took the men by surprise.

"Easy, that's just the laxatives taking its effect. They have to flush out the chemicals from the cactus and drink some water when they get out. They'll be fine in about twenty minutes or so." Jojo explained.

"I guess we won't be going in there for the rest of the day." Matt joked, getting a laugh out of everyone in the room. Jonny suddenly stopped laughing, his attention shifting to Plank.

"What's that, Plank? ... Where? ... Great idea buddy!" Jonny said as he snuck behind tje counter to get what Plank was apparently pointing out. Jonny found a whole watermelon, an ice cream scoop and a butterfly knife.

"Hey guys, anybody up for a snack?" Jonny said with excitement.

* * *

In another part of the town, Kevin, Rolf, the Kankers (sans May), and Janyse were getting food for the group in a nearby supermarket.

"Yo, Rolf! Go deep man!" Kevin called out, tossing a turkey at Rolf from across an aisle, Rolf successfully caught the turkey and then seemed somewhat nostalgic at how it was cold to the touch.

"Ah, the frozen meat brings Rolf back to his time surviving the harsh winters in the Old Country." He said. He looked over at the rest of the food in the frozen section and looked at the frozen French fries in complete disgust and shame.

"Hey guys, did we get everything?" Janyse asked.

"Yeah, I think we should have enough food to last us about a couple of weeks and Nazz is getting medicine with Double D. Speaking of which, we should probably meet up with them, I think the pharmacy they saw is only a couple blocks away." Kevin explained.

As they left the supermarket, they found their friends already back on the street heading to them.

"Hey Nazz, did you get everything we needed?" Kevin asked with a bit of a blush on his face.

"Totally! If anything happens to us we should be alright." Nazz answered.

"Before his untimely passing, Dr. Vincent was also kind enough to teach me a variety of surgical procedures firsthand. So if a situation occurs like that of Eddy's father, I should be able to perform the necessary procedure." Double D added. "Though if we are careful it shouldn't have to come to that."

"Nice, I think we have everything we need to get by, now lets hurry back to-" Kevin began to say before noticing a few dozen zombies dashing towards them. "Oh fuck!"

After the rest of them saw the zombies, the group dashed as fast as they could back to the restaurant with their supplies...

* * *

Everyone in the restaurant finished the watermelon, saving some for everyone who went for supplies. Jonny hollowed out the rinds completely, leaving Plank on a table so he could cut out holes in the watermelon for his eyes.

Kevin's group barged into the restaurant, a few of them were completely out of breath.

"What happened?! Is everyone alright?" Jimmy asked, surprised at the sudden return.

"We gotta move, there's zombies heading this way!" Kevin announced, most of the group wasted no time in getting out of there, except for Jonny and Peter. The former had just finished cutting out eyeholes in the watermelon rinds for his 'Captain Melonhead' persona while the had just finished up in the bathroom.

Unfortunately for them, zombies had already begun attacking the restaurant, one was reaching for Plank, right in front of Jonny.

"BUDDY!" Jonny cried out as he began to struggle with the zombie over Plank. He was forced to use his feet to keep any other zombies away. Peter on the other hand was swarmed with zombies, he tried to flee but he was suddenly caught by a zombie that had broken through a door with its hands and tried to pull him to his death.

The two boys cried out for help, thankfully for them they were heard by Ed, who ran back to help them. The rest of the group found themselves face to face with another horde of zombies, the group pulled out their weapons, which looked far inferior to the actual weapons the four men had, a kitana wielded by Jojo, an AK-47 owned by Anthony, a Colt Single Action Army revolver that Gibby had, and an MP5 that Diego held with gusto.

While everyone fended off the zombies, Ed hurried over back to where Jonny and Peter were. When he saw the situations they were in, Ed knew that if he called for help, nobody would be able to respond in time. He was left with a serious choice...

 **Who should Ed help?:**

 **Option A:** Help Jonny

 **Option B:** Help Peter

 **The choice is yours...**

* * *

 **Our heroes have managed to restock on supplies and can continue their quest, but can they continue to survive?**


	12. Decisions, Forced and Chosen

**Happy Holidays! Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Ed frantically looked at Jonny and then Peter, knowing that between the two he could only help one of them from the zombie attack.

Jonny has always been a friend to Ed, even after the events of the Big Picture Show and his subsequent actions during his time spent as "The Gourd".

Peter was someone he had just met and even though he knew little about him, Ed knew he couldn't just let him die.

Ed panicked as the situation grew increasingly more drastic. With his choice made, Ed went to go help Jonny. He grabbed his longtime friend and wooden companion, the second he went over to them, the zombies burst through the door and dragged Peter to his demise...

The two boys ran away from the restaurant and joined the others, who left most of the combat to the adults who had already been in town.

The zombies were mowed down rather quickly and without any injuries to those that were still alive. From a dark alleyway, James watched the group. He stood silently, putting his attention mostly on the guns that were being used.

Once the last zombie was defeated, James sank into the shadows, out of sight. The Lemon Brook teens looked around, noticing that Peter was missing.

"Um... Where's Pete?" Tony asked. At the mention of their now deceased ally, Ed began to look guilty. Knowing him for the longest time, Eddy and Double D noticed Ed's behavior, the two began to grow worried.

"Ed?!" Double D asked.

"It is my fault!" Ed cried. "He and Johnny were being attacked and I could only help one of them!"

The group was shocked, none of them really knew how to react.

"You did what you could." Jojo said. "I was in a similar spot when the outbreak started. I had to save either a woman I was flirting with, or my brother over here." He motioned towards Diego, who he promptly shared a fist bump with.

"I don't want to sound mean..." Erin said. "But Peter did sometimes perv on me so... I don't really feel so bad about it."

"He was a bit rude..." Kathy added.

"If he wasn't much help to you then you need to move on and keep moving. It sucks, sure, but its all that you can really do." Gibby said.

"What skills did he have that you needed?" Anthony asked.

"Well he was good at being watch..." Tony pondered.

"That's something any of you could do. No offense. Also, your friend here was smart enough to at least get some sort of food. Plus he looks like he knows basic survival skills." Jojo stated.

"Of course he can survive, gentlemen at arms! Jonny the Wood Boy is one of the Urban Rangers alongside Boy Jimmy and I, Rolf, the Son of a Shephard!" Rolf boasted.

"Hehe, well it looks like you have the survivalists you need?" Anthony joked. "You should probably move on to where you're going, no sense in sticking around here."

"What about you guys? You can't just stay here!" Nazz replied.

"Don't worry, we can take care of ourselves. Take these though." Gibby said as he and his friends handed the group of surviors several weapons such as handguns, knives and shotguns as well as other provisions such as a compass and a map.

"You never told us where you're going." Diego said.

"We're trying to find if my older son is still... You know." Eddy's dad said.

"Yeah, my brother is kind of a dick but we need to find him now. We have to go to Mondo-A-Go-Go." Eddy added.

"So you're heading East, you'll be going through... Pomelo Ranch and Papeda Swamp." Gibby said, taking a look at an extra map they had.

"What are you all gonna do when you find him?" Diego asked. The group fell silent, unsure of how to answer. Until Jojo made a proposition for them.

"You could try heading to the East coast of the United States. Whatever caused this brrakout spread fast and is probablt still spreading, by the time you reach this guy the entire continent could be infected. Before you came here I was just telling the guys that there's supposedly a hidden city in the Ozark Mountains down south in Missouri. It's incredibly far but if it's real, then it could be the safest location at the moment." Jojo explained. "But even then I can't confirm if its real."

"I don't think we can thank you gentlemen enough for the help." Double D said.

"Don't mention it. You better move on, who knows if there are more of those freaks out there." Anthony said, the group left Watermelon Falls, leaving the men inside the town...

They headed further East, the grassy plains of Pomelo Ranch were a rather calming transition from the yellow and brown colors of the desert and town.

* * *

The four men headed into a safer building than ghe restaurant they had been in earlier just in case more zombies came. When the coast was clear, James exited the alley he had been hiding in. He began to collect every zombie or chunk of zombie that had been blown off and collected them into the alley he was in.

As he rebuit his army, James secreted some sort of mysterious brown liquid from his eyes that splashed onto his zombie brethren, hardening their rotting flesh into what can only be described as stone.

Once his army reanimated themselves, James rounded them up to follow the survivors, laying no mind to the four men still in town...

* * *

The time was slightly after 1 p.m. when the group was halfway through the Ranch. The owners were long gone alongside most of the animals that were still alive, there were dead cows scattered around the farm, so the group wanted to move quickly just in case the dead cows had been zombified as well.

Rolf and his family would have normally felt right at home at the Ranch, but the dead cows unsettled them. Rolf's parents took out a few herbs they had in their pockets and burned them as a sort of way to cleanse them and the cows.

"Yo, Rolf. What's with the herbs?" Kevin asked.

"It is customary in the Old Country to burn the Herbs of Cleansing to remove and repel any evil spirits that can attach to us and cleanse the bodies of innocent animals during a time of turmoil. This tradition is very rarely ever done but in dark times such as this, we may have to do this often..." Rolf replied.

* * *

Time passed on as the group continued, the sun began to set as they entered Papeda Swamp. The Eds felt a bit of nostalgia at returning to the swamp, it reminded them of how close they were as friends as it had been where Eddy and Double D had their fight furing the Big Picture Show and renewed their friendship afterwards.

The three boys smiled at each other for a koment before the Urban Rangers stopped them.

"What's the hold up?" Lee asked.

"Do you hear it?" Rolf asked.

"Hear what?" Marie responded, Marie tried clearing her ears out just in case she was meant to hear something. Matt, Double D and Kathy soon caught on to what Rolf was talking about.

"Exactly..." Matt said in shock and fear. Janyse caught on quickly afterwards.

"Will you guys stop being so dramatic!" Sarah yelled. "Tell us!"

"Listen..." Janyse said. "You hear nothing, right? We're at a swamp, you'd think there'd be some animals around. Any sort of noise."

This revelation immediately weighed on the group as they looked around for any kind of life.

"Oh dear..." Double D said as he began to sweat profusely, he and his fellow Eds becked up into each other so that they could see at every possible angle. The fact that the sun was quickly setting did not help... That was when they heard it...

It did not sound human, nor did it sound like any normal zombie they had encountered... The group then saw several zombified bears, crocodiles, and other animals charging towards them.

"Everyone, before we inevitably fight, we have to conserve as much ammunition as possible. If you must use it, I would suggest using it on the bears." Double D announced.

"Gotcha dude!" Nazz said as she got out one of the knives they had been given.

"Everyone ready?" Keenan asked, shaking ever so slightly.

"Let's rock!" Ed and Matt shouted simultaneously.

Kevin, Lenore, and Eddy's dad blasted the bears with their shotguns, taking them down first. Rolf, Ed, and the Kanker sisters wrestled with the zombie crocodiles, using their knives to stab them at any opportunity. Keenan, Janyse, Matt, Tony and Erin fought against smaller animals such as raccoons, deer, and possums, rolling down their sleeves and protecting any exposed skin to avoid getting bitten. The thought of contracting rabies as well as zombification horrified them. Jimmy, Double D, Eddy, Kathy, and Keenan used slingshot and any other useful weapons such as reasonably large stones to kill smaller animals such as birds, chipmunk, and squirrels. Eddy felt a hint of joy at killing his least favorite animal, the fact that they were zombies only made it better.

The only one that did not fight was Jonny... Battling against zombified people was ome thing, but he was an animal lover, seeing the dead animals earlier and seeing them as zombies now crushed him. The others were understanding in his unwillingness to fight, killing these animals hurt them too but they all knew they had no choice...

When the chaos had ended, night had fallen... The road they were taking was soaked in blood and guts. Jimmy looked horrified at the carnage he was directly involved in, he stepped back and looked at his blood soaked hands, part of him... seemed to enjoy fighting the zombies. His family had always taught him that violence was wrong and that if he wanted to help society, he could join a group that would build his social and survival skills as well as his confidence. The rage and surprising combat prowess went completelt against this mentality, sure he was conniving and sneaky at times but he wasnt a fighter... or so he thought.

Jimmy couldn't physically comprehend this, he stepped back a bit and vomited...

Sarah went to console and help him clean up, thinking the stress and adrenaline got to him but the Kankers saw what Jimmy was going through.

The moon shone on the group as they continued on the road. They traveled silently until they noticed the mountains appearing on the horizon. They were close.

* * *

In the border region between Canada and the United States, a large, black plane flew high above the clouds. Inside, several dozen men in suits stood in a room with a lone table in the center, several of these men sat on one side while a group of scientists sat on the other, among these scientists were Double D's parents... They sat next to an African-Canadian man that wore a neat white buttoned shirt tucked into beige slacks, black dress shoes. His head was bald and reflecting the light hanging from the ceiling.

"Mr. and Mrs. Drummond, Mr. Barr, you and the rest of your department have the capabilities of aiding us solve this outbreak. The Canadian government has fallen and we need your help. I'm afraid you have no choice in this matter." One of the men in suits said, this man wore a striped red shirt underneath his suit. His hair was brown and slicked back with gel, he had a mole on the left aide of his forehead.

"Where is our child?!" Mrs. Drummond asked. "WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM AND HIS FRIENDS?!"

"My daughter may still be out there somewhere! Lemon Brook can not be safe right now!" Mr. Barr added.

"I have no idea about the whereabouts of your children but if you don't work with us they may die by morning!" The man said sternly.

"And if we refuse?" Mr. Drummond asked.

"You die. We don't have time to accomodate or persuade you. For the good of humanity you have to work with us and our superiors.

The scientists relented and agreed to work for the men. The striped suited left the room and entered a much nicer area of the plane. Two men sat across from each other sipping a glass of wine. Both of them had white hair but one if the men had an eyepatch. The first man was middle aged, his hair was brown but it was greying. He wore a black suit with a white shirt and blue tie. The second man was more elderly, he had an eyepatch and wore a brown trench coat with a black suit underneath.

"You didn't have force them at gunpoint." The elderly man said.

"You're far to peaceful, David. I know you're a veteran who essentially saved America during the Cold War but you need to understand that this is a disaster we're dealing with... A plague if you will." The younger man replied.

"These people had families, you could have helped them Terry!" David argued.

The striped shirt man told Terry and David about the scientists agreeing to their demands.

"Thank you Pezzulli, make sure you get them to work." Terry said to his subordinate.

"David, there was no time. The President doesn't know we're doing this, he's too focused on rallying the American people to safety first, so if-"

"You didn't tell him! For God's sakes you have direct contact with him!" David shouted.

"I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN DOWN TO BY THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE! I AM THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR GOD SAKES!" Terry boomed. "I can have you killed right here and now and I can tell the President that you were just another victim of those monsters down below!"

Neither man said anything else, David left the room allowing both to cool down... Terry then made a call on his phone...

"It's me. The scientists agreed to work but I need some extra incentive for them. Find their kids, bring them on board. If they're alive and with anyone, bring them too. Use lethal force if necessary, if they're dead then we can still use them."

* * *

Back in the swamp, James and his zombie army found the remains if the zombified animals. Despite the inability to smile or show any emotions, James felt like a kid in a candy store as he began to work his magic on the animals...

* * *

 **End of chapter.**


	13. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

**Happy New Year! Wait it's February... Well that's what college does sometimes. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The moon was bright up in the night sky as the group approached the peak of the mountain range. The Eds looked out past the cliff and at the amusement park down below, the three almost felt nostalgic about being at the cliffside.

"He's down there Eddy..." Double D said.

"Yup..." Eddy replied, not really sure how to properly answer, looking back at the last time they had gone to Mondo-A-Go-Go. Ed was silent as he took several glances at his best friends and at the park below, the events of the Big Picture Show still a big memory to him.

The rest of the Peach Creek group had similar thoughts as the Eds.

"So your kid's down there?" Lenore Kanker asked, speaking to Eddy's dad, as he rested against a rock.

"Yup, knowing him though he's probably blacked out drunk." Eddy's dad replied, checking his amputated leg which had healed quite nicely.

"No offense but he could be dead by now." Keenan added, he expected the man to curse him out or at least glare at him but instead Eddy's father just sighed.

"He could be, but we still need to know for sure."

"Hey Mr. McGee." Nazz asked. "If you don't mind me asking, why did he leave the cul-de-sac years ago?"

"My wife and I have seen Eddy's brother, Terry, push him around when they were younger. When it had first began we dismissed it as just a bit of wrestling that they had both enjoyed watching at the time. However as they both got older it began to escalate to the point where Eddy feared Terry and began to emulate his scams on the other kids. My wife started becoming concerned and tried to separate the two whenever she could. I just..."

Eddy's dad, Robert, stopped himself for a moment. He took a deep breath and wiped his face with his hands. He looked as though he was trying to contemplate on what to say next.

"When I was Eddy's age, I also had to deal with older siblings who acted similarly to how Terry was only much more aggressive, I was the runt of the pack too, my father never said anything of it, even if he watched us fight. I had to toughen myself up to get my brothers and sisters off my back. With Eddy and Terry I thought that Eddy would toughen up just like I did, but I also wanted to be there for him whenever he needed me. Eventually I realized I failed to be there for him and my wife and I eventually agreed to kick Terry out of the house when he turned eighteen. He had friends that gave him the trailer he lives in now so that's how he ended up there. I didn't tell Eddy where he went to protect him."

Nobody really knew what to say, they looked back at the Eds, who had now begin to lie down and stare up at the stars. The rest of the Peach Creek kids had listened to Mr. McGee's story, further understanding why Eddy was the former scammer that he had been years ago.

Their silence was broken by an unholy moaning rushing up the mountain toward them, getting everyone's attention. Jimmy and Sarah screamed in terror at what they saw. The moonlight revealed the source of the moaning; a zombie with the body of a man, but the head of a buck with milky white, blank eyes. One of the zombie's arms and both feet were replaced with deer hooves.

Nazz and Erin screamed as well when they saw the abomination. Kathy and Double D watched the creature in a combination of horror and some sort of morbid curiousity. Ed, Matt, Tony, and Kevin somehow seemed to recognize the beast.

"The Deerhaunter has come for us!" Ed proclaimed.

"The what?!" Erin screamed.

"It's the name of a monster that's in a video game." Matt answered.

"You guys have played it too?" Kevin asked.

"I was just gonna ask that!" Tony added.

"Yeah it's awesome!" Ed replied.

"This Isn't a video game you idiots!" Janyse called out. "There's more of them!"

Just as Janyse said, several more Deerhaunters appeared, each with different limbs replaced with animal or human parts, though all of them had a deer head.

Several other hybrid zombies came following the Deerhaunters. There were crows with the heads of crocodile, zombies with bodies of deer but heads of humans, crocodiles with jaws that had been replaced with the torn jaws of a bear and the limbs of a human. Alongside the hybrids, a number of regular zombies followed. Amongst these zombies was James, who the survivors were horrified and baffled to see, especially since he resembled his original body much less with the parts his zombie cohorts.

Double D covered his mouth at the Eldritch horrors that were approaching everyone. The group got their weapons ready and began to fight as hard as they possibly could.

Jimmy seemed much more hesitant to enter the battle this time around, hiding behind a rock instead.

Jonny and Rolf noticed Jimmy's absence and went to go find him as they fought the zombies.

"What's that, Plank?" Jonny asked his wooden companion. "Where? ... "Rolf, over here!"

The two Urban Rangers found their third member cowering and looking at his hands in fear, much like Double D did when he thought he was becoming a bully.

"Boy Jimmy, why do you hide? This is the time in which me must defend ourselves against the reanimated carcasses!" Rolf exclaimed.

"Yeah, everyone's counting on you to help!" Jonny added.

The two sounded more concerned and in a bit if a panic more than they were upset.

"He doesn't wanna be a killer."

The three Urban Rangers looked up and saw the Kankers standing across from them. Lee has been the one who had spoken.

"What?" Jonny asked, clearly confused.

"Not sure if you saw, but Dutch tore the house down when it came to those zombies at the swamp." May explained.

"It's true!" Jimmy cried. "I haven't been able to tap into that sort of aggression since the time I fought Double D!"

"Oh ho ho!" Rolf chuckled. "Boy Jimmy, what you are experiencing is the adrenaline and thrill of battle. You have a fire in your heart that can aid us in this quest for survival. A quest that guarantees that you and Ranger Jonny will earn your Hairy Chest of Resilience badges just as Rolf has!"

"But Rolf, you know I don't like violence!" Jimmy cried. He felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. It was Sarah...

"Jimmy, you're nicest andnsweetest boy in the world. I know it feels wrong but with how the world is now, we have to do what we can..."

The two shared a hug as Jimmy continued to cry. All of them were caught off guard by a Deerhaunter that was charging towards them, its antlers much larger than the others. Sarah and Jimmy screamed as they had little time to react to the zombie.

Ed, going on his instincts, charged at the Deerhaunter and tackled it, shattering it into tiny pieces, except for the antlers. Eddy and Double D noticed the antlers, Eddy laughed as he placed then on Ed's head.

"Cool!" The boy said, admiring his new accessory.

"Hey guys, I know we don't do scams anymore but does this remind you of anything?" Eddy called out as he jumped on Ed's shoulders. He then proceeded to shout some sort of battle cry that seemed to evoke a sense of nostalgia as some of the Peach Creek gang laughed while others smirked as they combatted the zombies.

"MUCKY MUCKY MUCKY MUCKY MUCKY!" The Eds chanted simultaneously. Eddy and Ed charged at the zombies, Ed using his antlers as a battering ram while Eddy used an iron baseball bat to destroy any that Ed had missed.

The numbers of the zombies soon began to diminish, leaving James alone.

The zombie boy simply stared at the group, not moving and not flinching when the survivors raised their weapons.

James turned around and gave off an unholy roar. A number of similar roars came from the woods behind him. Ten more zombies cane from behind him; all of them being a zombie bear hybrid, having limbs of several other animals or people as it towered over everyone. The largest of them all was a zombified bear the the torso and legs of a muscular zombie, the head of a crocodile, and instead of hands or bear claws it had two bear heads for hands!

* * *

From several miles away, a black helicopter flew towards the Mondo-A-Go-Go amusement park.

"We're coming up on the park now. Those kids are heasing in that direction and by now they should be there." The pilot said into his radio.

"Burn the place down if you have to." The radio responded.

"Roger that, detecting a large horse of people and zombies on the cliffside nearby. Proceeding to investigate. Over."

The pilot brought the plane over to the cliffs where the battle was taking place. The battle halted when the chopper shone a bright light and several U.S. soldiers aimed their guns at everyone and everything.

"I have a visual on the targets. Proceeding to move in." The pilot said before turning on a microphone. "I'm here for the kids known as Eddward "Double D" Drummond and Kathleen "Kathy" Barr."

"What do you want with us?!" Kathy asked.

* * *

From a whale shaped trailer in the amusement park, a man who appeared to be in his 20's had awoken from his sleep thanks to the helicopter pilot. The man looked similar to Eddy, though he had a goatee. In his bed there was also a woman that had blonde hair. The man got up from bed and saw the helicopter aiming at what he saw were people.

"Babe, duty calls. Can't let these army assholes kill what could be innocent people." The man said.

"Be careful baby!" The woman replied.

"Don't worry about me."

The man went outaide carrying a large, cylindrical object and aimed it at the helicopter.

"You have ten seconds to come with us or we start shooting." The pilot said.

* * *

"Time's up!"

The pilot and the other soldiers on the chopper fired machine guns and the helicopter's miniguns at all of them.

The survivors hid as fast as they could, the Eds carrying Eddy's father to safety.

The zombies were completely obliterated, except for James, who fled into the darkness of the woods.

"Who the fuck is this guy?!" Janyse cursed.

"Why does he want you two?" Tony asked.

"I don't know the answer to either of those questions!" Kathy replied.

"Well we have to do something about these psychos!" Erin said in panic.

"If we even take a step out in the open, we'll be swiss cheese!" Kevin responded.

The group didn't know what they could possibly do...

"EAT MY SHIT!"

Everyone heard the voice of a man swearing at the tip of his lungs and then what sounded like an explosion emanating from down below in the park.

The chopper tried to turn to the voice but it wasn't fast enough. The helicopter was then blasted with a RPG, killing the pilot and co-pilot. The other soldiers were blasted out of the vehicle and fell to their deaths below. The helicopter than lost control of itself and crashed down into an abandoned section of the park.

"What just happened?" Nazz asked. The gang knew that they had to move before James came back with more zombies, or the military would return with more helicopters. The descended into the now run down Mondo-A-Go-Go amusement park...

* * *

 **End of chapter. Don't worry about the choices, they'll come. If a chapter has no choice it is more meant to move the story itself along.**


	14. Family Reunited

The Mondo-A-Go-Go amusement park was once a fun and mostly family friendly place. It was typically open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. during the late spring-early summer season. The memory of the events of the Big Picture Show reemerged as they traversed the now run down amusement park.

The helicopter that had been hit by the RPG had crashed into one of the roller coasters, destroying the track, which then toppled over a ferris wheel. There were several people that were camping out in the amusement park, using what was left of the park's shacks and stands as shelters.

"Yum!" Ed called out in joy as he found a chili dog shack that still had running electricity and heat, some chili dogs still in their glass container being heated by the slightly dimming light. The boy grabbed the junk food and wolfed it down heartily.

"Ed!" Double D and Eddy called, Ed hurried over to everyone. They stood in front Eddy's Brother's whale shaped trailer. Everyone was silent as the Peach Creek teens stood in silence, they all looked anxious while the Lemon Brook teens were confused as to why the others the others were mostly staying still.

"Well?" Lenore asked.

"After what happened to these kids durong the movie way back when, I wouldn't blame them for being hesitant to go near my son." Eddy's dad saod solemnly before turning to Eddy. "You know we have to do this."

"Yeah... I know." Eddy sighed. He slowly took a few steps forward he heard another pair of footsteps follow him. Eddy turned around and saw Ed and Double D right behind him. Ed's normally goofy smile was now serious but confident. Double D still looked nervous but he stood his ground as well. The best friends smiled at each other for a second before they approached the trailer together. Eddy knocked on the door, the world itself seemed to stand still as everyone didn't really know what to expect.

The door slammed open, two people stepped out of the shadows of the trailer, a man and a woman. The man was immediately recognized as Eddy's brother. He looked more or less the same as the last time everyone saw him but instead of just a little bit of chin hair, he now had a goatee. He was wearing a green buttoned down shirt with a white tank top underneath and cargo shorts, he still had the same hat as the movie.

The woman was a rather attractive blond woman, the boys from the cul-de-sac couldn't help but compare her to Nazz in a way. She wore the yellow sports jersey that Eddy's brother had when he was originally seen, it was clearly too big for her as the woman was the same height as Double D. Aside from the jersey she wore jean shorts and had blue sneakers.

The two were carrying guns as the jumped out with Eddy's brother holding a MAC 10 machine pistol while to woman held a Glock 19.

"Hands up!" Eddy's brother shouted before lowering his gun in shock. The woman saw him lowering his gun and followed suit.

"Dad...?" The man said.

"Hello Terry." Eddy's dad sighed in relief, a smile on his face.

"So the old cul-de-sac got taken over too?" Eddy's brother, Terry, questioned.

"Yeah, Lemon Brook too." Kevin replied, he gulped, still not sure if the man he feared could be trusted.

"Alright... Dad, I need to talk to Eddy and his friends for a sec, you and the others can rest inside." Terry said.

"No, Terry, its best if we all hear this."

Terry knew there was no way he could argue against his father, especially given the circumstances.

"Well, first things first." Terry said, taking a breath before speaking. "For those who don't know me, the name's Terry. I'm Eddy's older brother, this angel right here with me is my fiance, Rachel. Rachel, babe, this is my little brother and his friends, that's my dad over there."

"I'd say its a pleasure but we're literally living in he'll right now. Still, its really nice to meet you guys." Rachel joked, giving everyone a friendly wave and going over to shake Eddy's dad's hands. "It's especially an honor to meet you Mr. McGee."

"Hehe, you didn't tell me you found yourself a girl!" Eddy's dad laughed. Terry tried to hide his embarrassment, moving on to what happened to the amusement park.

"Anyway, I'm sure you guys know about how these zombies fucked up pretty much everything in Canada in the span of just a few days. Two days ago this place was normal, there were a few zombies roaming around here but some of my coworkers just thought it was another employee in one of our zombie costumes, advertising our new zombie themed ride but when the zombies attacked a family and their two kids, everything turned to shit. People paniced and ran like crazy. People turned into zombies like its a virus, once you get bit, you're fucked. Some of our guards tried stopping them but they went down fast so the poliece had to be called. That stopped them for a while but eventually more zombies came and for some reason bullets wouldn't always work on them. Like... Like they had rocks for skin in some places! Police went down after that. Eventually some of the Canadian Armed Forces came, we thought we'd be safe but... My buddy John tried telling them about our situation. He didn't get a word out before they shot him dead." Terry explained, mentioning his now deceased friend made him choke up a bit, the Peach Creek teens were rather shocked to see the man that many of then were intimidated by years ago now on the verge of tears.

"After John was killed everyone still alive in the park scattered." Rachel continued, as she held Terry's hand to console him. "Some of us park employees decided that the best thing to do would be to try to sneak attack some of them and take their guns."

"But that's essentially suicide!" Double D chimed in.

"Yeah. We were hopeless at the time. But eventually we snuck around and found a truck full of their guns and ammunition. We used that to take most of them out. The power went out just this morning for most of the park, we're running on backup generators amd batteries now. We have food and running water but it'll unforunately run out eventually."

"Look." Terry sighed. "It's unsafe to just stand around here, why don't you guys come inside."

* * *

The inside of Terry's trailer was similar to his room back home, for a rather small looking exterior, the inside of the trailer was actually rather massive, various knick knacks were literred all around the trailer, a sofa was in front of everyone when they stepped inside, a stairway going to an upper floor, a kitchen, and bathroom.

"Honestly, having you all here is pretty lucky, we have a radio here that we might be able to use to communicate with someone... somehow. I'm not a technician so..."

"I may be able to help!" Double D said eagerly.

"As am I!" Kathy added.

"Actually, Sockhead, I need to talk to you and everyone else from the cul-re-sac for a sec." Terry said.

"Not to worry, I'm sure I can handle it on my own for the time being. If anything comes up I will notify you." Kathy said as she went with Rachel. The only people in the living room now were all from Peach Creek...

"Alright, I'm sure all you kids still remember what happened back then." Terry began, sighing deeply. Seeing him with made all the teens feel lile they were holding their breath for a while. They all silently exhaled, when they breathed in the air of the trailer, they were pleasantly surprised that the trailer smelled like fresh herbs. The pleasant aroma made them less tense as they continued to listen to Eddy's brother.

"I think it goes without saying that I'm sorry about what happened, especially to you Eddy. I acted lile a complete fucktard to you for damn near your entire love. Everyone feared md, wanted to be on my good side, and then I pissed off mom and dad one too many times." Terry explained. Speaking of which, where is mom?"

Eddy and his father looked depressed at the mention of the woman that they held dearest to them. Terry understood without a word being spoken.

"Point is, I can understand if you all can't forgive me for what I've done. But I want to help you if it means we can all survive."

Everyone was rather suspicious of Terry, Rolf's parents huddled together and whispered to each other in their native language, soon everyone from the neighborhood huddled up.

"You sure we can trust him?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know, I think it only matters if Eddy and his dad trust him." Kevin replied.

"I know Terry was caused a lot of trouble but he's still my son."

"We got ripped off by Armando, and I don't want history to repeat, but I do think we should give him one chance. Just one chance though, he has to work to gain our trust!" Eddy replied.

"Just please don't beat me up again if he does something bad." Jonny pleaded.

"Bro, we decided, we'll get through this together _but_ we still don't completely trust you. If you try to pull anything then you're through!" Eddy said sternly but calmly.

"I can live with that." Terry responded, a wave of relief washed over him like a splash of warm water.

"Hey guys!"

Everyone turned and saw Janyse and Matt standing in the kitchen doorway (they don't live in the cul-de-sac, so they weren't I volved in the conversation).

"Kathy managed to get something." Matt announced.

Everyone hurried to the kitchen and saw Kathy using a set of headphones and an antique radio to try to get a signal to contact anyone. The radio was emitting static for the most part but everyone could faintly hear disruptions in the static that sounded like a voice.

"Double D, just in time, I'm trying to find the find the right frequency but I'm not very accustomed to antiques such as this. Do you think you could help me?"

"Of course, Kathy!" Double D replied eagerly. The thought of working on an antique radio excited him. Marie felt jealous, upset, and angry that Double D seemed excited.

Double D turned a knob on the radio while pressing one of the buttons. Tje radio static faded and the voice began to hecone cleared.

" _Hello? Is anyone out there? Can you hear me?_ "

"Yes! Hello? I can hear you!" Kathy replied to the voice, the gender of the person on the other end was indistinguishable but they could all hear panic in the voice, it was clearly a person that was around Sarah and Jimmy's age at most.

" _Oh thank God! I wasn't sure how many survivors had a working radio setup, you're the first people I've been able to contact!_ "

"Are you currently in a safe location?" Kathy asked.

" _Yes, I'm currently at a militia compound that has been converted into a safe haven for any survivors._ "

"Where is this compound?"

Everyone listening in slowly had their hopes raised, smiles were on faces that were wider than they had ever been in the last few days. But the answer made these smiles turn into nervous frowns.

" _It's in the mountains of Montana._ "

"M-Montana... As in the United States of America?" Kathy said, her voice cracking.

" _Yes. Why?_ "

"W-we live in Canada..." Kathy sighed in dread.

"It would take weeks to get to that compound. Not to mention that the military of both countries could be carefully observing the Canadian-American border!" Double D lamented.

The air in the room became dark and dreary, despite the sweet scents in the air.

" _It doesn't matter where you come from. Our compound will take you, at least that's what the boss here says. Unfortunately there's no way we can help you get here aside from giving you oir coordinates._ "

"That's perfect, thank you!"

As Kathy and Double D wrote down the coordinates, the others planned their next action.

"So what do we do now?" Jonny asked.

"I guess we're going into America." Nazz replied. "We should get a good night's sleep, we're going to need all the energy we need for tomorrow."

* * *

Morning soon came without any zombie attacks or military counterattack, Kevin woke up to a girl cuddling up to him. He thought it was Nazz until he rubbed his eyes and saw Erin holding him. He couldn't help but blush until she began to wake up. Erin almost jumped off of him in embarrassment.

"S-sorry." She stammered, blushing as she turned away from him. Erin's dog, Coco, had still been with them all this time and now suddenly hurried in front of Erin to protect her.

"Huh, I forgot your dog was still here." Kevin said, his blush fading.

"Oh, yeah, Coco is a pretty quiet girl. I guess this whole situation just made her not want to draw attention to us. She is pretty smart."

Everyone else slowly began to wake up as well, remebering they were still in Terry's trailer. They began to pack up for the journey across the border when they suddenly realized something... They were already moving...

Jimmy and Sarah began to panic, thinking they had been abducted by aliens or the military.

"I was going to say good morning but now I think we should've told you last night."

Rachel stood in the doorway to another room past the kitchen, nobody mentioned it because they assumed it was a closet. Inside the room was Terry, sitting in a chair...and driving the trailer.

"Are you telling me this trailer is mobile?!" Janyse called out, half shocked and half impressed.

"Dude! This is wicked!" Matt said, he poked his head out if the window and saw the whale shaped trailer being driven alongside a woodland road with wheels that were similar to an RV.

"Thanks!" Terry called from the driver's seat. "My friends and I fixed it up when his RV broke down years back. Didn't think I'd ever need to use it."

Originally the group would have arrived at the border by nightfall if they went by foot. But with the mobile trailer they arrived there at around midday. Terry parked the trailer about a mile away from the border and locked the door as he turned to Rachel.

"A lot of good times in there." He sighed.

"Yeah." Rachel agreed as the couple embraced. The Kankers couldn't help but imagine themselves being so happy with their respective Ed. Everyone armed themselves with a weapon or tool if they had any and made their way to the border. As expected, it was swarming with the military personnel.

"Alright guys." Kevin began, the group hidden aming the trees and vegetation. "The way I see it, there are two ways we can try getting past those guys. Either we try to get through by sneaking past them, which could be the smarter choice but is also the riskier play. Or we could try going back to the trailer and smashing our way through."

"My trailer can take a few bullets without a problem, we just have to hope they don't have any explosives or rockets." Terry chimed in.

"So what's it gonna be everyone? Stealth or Smash?" Kevin asked.

* * *

 **How should everyone get through the border?**

 **Option A:** Stealth

 **Option B:** Power their way through using the mobile trailer.

 **The choice is yours...**

* * *

Hours earlier, James had gathered the various chunks of the zombified animal remains left when the military helicopter stopped the confrontation James had with the survivors. Je amputated his own hand and replaced it with a bear's claw. James had already now lacked a nose but replaced it with that of a bear as well. He then proceeded to rebuild his zombie battalion, James spit some sort of acid on some of the rocks of the cliff and use it to replace the skin of the zombies. The rocks seemed to fuse with the zombies' skin, making the body of the entire zombie rock solid.

Using his enhanced sense of smell, James and his army followed the direction of the Eds and their allies...


	15. Breaking the Barrier

**You made your choice, and now the results of the choice are revealed.**

* * *

"So what's it gonna be everyone? Stealth or Smash?"

The group took a moment to ponder Kevin's question. Stealth seemed like the safer option at the moment, but if they were to be caught, someone was sure to be killed.

"While I do believe that revealing ourselves to the military is a foolish move, if we were to use the added protection of the trailer to our advantage, it would potentially minimize the casualties and injuries we may experience if we were to use stealth." Double D explained.

"That was precisely what I was thinking." Kathy added. "Though we may need some firepower if we are to do this, the weapons we have at the moment are only useful at close range."

"So we need guns?" Matt asked.

"As much as I dislike the use of firearms, that is correct." Double D replied.

"We do have a few guns back at the trailer, they're too big to bring with us normally. But if we're gonna bust into the states, they could he useful." Rachel noted.

With this information, the gang retreated back in the direction of Terry's trailer.

* * *

"Is everyone ready?" Eddy asked. Terry gripped the wheel of his trailer so tightly that his knuckles turned pink. Everyone except for Sarah, Jimmy, Erin, Double D, and Kathy held either a gun (or in the case of Rolf and his family, harpoon guns) or some other kind of projectile like a rock or some useless knick knack that Terry and Rachel didn't mind parting with. With their weapons in hand, Terry slammed his foot on the gas, the trailer rocketing forward, for a mobile home, it moved rather quickly as it currently broke forty miles per hour.

"We're coming up onto the border!" Terry announced, everyone wielding a weapon got ready for action, those that didn't ducked under cover. "Eddy!"

Eddy went over to his brother, answering his call.

"What's up?"

"When I say so, I need you to push that yellow button."

"Uh, sure, but what is it?"

"Something that'll save our asses if we need it. But once we use it we'll have to dump this trailer afterwards. IS EVERYONE READY?!"

"READY!" Everyone responded.

"Alright then... LET'S ROCK!" Terry shouted as he floored it at the R.C.M.P and U.S. soldiers guarding the border into the United States.

"What the hell is that?!" One soldier asked in a mixture of shock, horror, and confusion as the whale shaped vehicle sped towards them.

"Who cares!" Anither soldier responded. "Shoot it!"

The soldiers opened fire on the trailer, prompting the gang to return fire. The ammunition either completely kissed the moving vehicle or graved its sides. Terry, Eddy, and Rachel ducked down to avoid the glass shards or the windshield as it had been shattered by bullets.

As the trailer was being shot at at all sides, those that hid under cover began getting exposed to the light of the outside by hullets that hit the side of the trailer. Nobody had been hit yet but the side of the vehicle that Jimmy was hiding at had part of its side completely destroyed by gunfire, leaving a gaping hole that exposed Jimmy to the soldiers' gunfire.

The timid boy screamed as everything seemed to slow down for him. He saw soldiers aiming their rifles at him, he swiftly jumped away to the side to avoid getting hit. A stray bullet hit the submachine gun that Janyse had in her hands, knocking it over to where Jimmy was. Acting on pure instinct, Jimmy reached for the gun, an Uzi, and went back to the hole. He saw the soldiers that almost shot him, his hands trembling as he aimed the gun at them. Sarah saw Jimmy with the gun and headed over to him, horrified about what might happen.

Jimmy closed his eyes and shouted as he pulled the trigger, Sarah watched as he took down the soldiers that blasted the hole into the trailer, there had to be seven at least, or rather" there _were_ seven soldiers.

Sarah wasn't sure if Jimmy realized what he did. Jimmy himself felt another surge of adrenaline rush through him, he didn't need to see the fallen soldiers, the fact that he pulled a gun and opened fire on people was more than enough to get his blood pumping.

"We need the RPG!" One of the soldiers shouted. Two more soldiers rushed over, one carrying an RPG with the other holding additional rockets.

"Holy shit" Kevin and Matt shouted simultaneously upon seeing the heavy artillery. Rolf looked at the weapon in confusion and fear, he didn't know what it was and he didn't want to find out.

"PUNCH IT EDDY!" Terry screamed. Eddy pressed the yellow button right when the soldier fired the rocket.

The trailer blasted forward, nitrous oxide bursting from the exhaust pipes. The RPG sped towards the trailer but barely missed as soon as the vehicle reached its top speed. Everyone in the trailer watched as the rocket zipped slyward and exploded. Rolf and his family paniced in their native language about the rocket launcher, Kevin, Matt, and the Kanker family tried calming them down.

The sdiers reloaded quickly and launched another rocket, though the trailer had already entered the U.S. and was hidden behind the trees, which were hit by the rocket.

* * *

Now having little control over the vehicle due to its speed and velocity, Terry tried to manuever the trailer past the trees as the fuel rapidly burned up.

Eventually the trailer stopped moving before it slammed into a tree. The engine died and went silent, they all appeared to lose the military, and it didn't appear as if they had any current interest in tracking them. This peace allowed the group to rest and calm themselves down after their ordeal.

"Ugh, my back hurts too, Buddy." Jonny groaned as he and Plank stepped out of the trailer. The rest of the group slowly stepping out of the now useless vehicle.

"So this is the States?" Lenore Kanker pondered, looking around the wilderness they found themselves in.

"Think if we walk for five minutes we'll find one of thise fast food places that are aupposed to be everywhere?" Lee jokingly asked, garnering a laugh out of most of the group.

Jimmy sat underneath a tree, still holding the gun. Sarah was by his side, listening to what he said...

"I'm a monster, Sarah! I'm no better than the brutes in those violent movies who abuse women and tear families apart!" He cried.

Sarah was going to respond but Tony beat her to it.

"You're not a monster, I think you're a hero!" He said.

"A hero?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah!"

Tony explained what happened to him in the traer as the chaos took place...

* * *

 _The military had just blasted a hole into the side of the trailer, Jimmy was immediately able to he seen, but when he jumped out of the way, Tony was now visible and in the line of fire._

 _Noticing the daylight behind him, Tony turned around and saw Jimmy pick up the gun that Janyse had dropped. In Jimmy's point of view, he closed his eyes out of fear. He didn't want to see what would happen when he started firing._

It was just a split second, but before Jimmy started shooting, Tony saw a flash of red light in his left eye, it was a flash of light reflecting off of the scope of the gun one if the soldiers had. Jimmy prevented the soldier from shooting Tony in the head, a hit that certainly would habe killed the large boy.

* * *

Jimmy didn't know what to say after listening to Tony's explanation. He saw himself as a barbarian, but someone much older and larger than he was, someone who looked like he could launch Jimmy fifty feet skyward with little effort was telling Jimmy that he was a hero.

Before Jimmy could respond, the Eds, Kathy, and Terry brought everyone over to them.

"Attention please! Do I habe everybody's attention?... Very well then, we have successfully crossed the Canadian-American border and we are now currently on the Rocky Mountains. Specifically in the portion of the mountains located within the state of Idaho." Double D announced.

"Now the militia compound where we were directed to go to is located within the section if the mountains located in Montana, which neighbors Idaho. However we are by no means close to the compound. While the trailer was able to give us a good amount of distance towards the compound, it will still take us several days, if not a week or two to arrive there." Kathy added.

"Plus my retailer's completely empty. We won't be able to use it to get there quicker and bringing it with us will draw too much attention." Terry stated.

"So we're walking the rest of the way?" Nazz asked.

"I'm afraid so."

"Um, I know this is going to sound corny but..." Erin stated. "This isn't so bad, right? I mean we all made it through the border okay, and we have somewhere to go. I mean it'll take a while to get there but it isn't hopeless, right?"

"Now see, an attitude like that is one we need right now!" Keenan added, trying to make the situation more hopeful.

"That is correct, and I must commend you for staying positive, but we must stick together and be more wary than we have been since this tragedy began." Double D noted. "This outbreak began off tje coast of California and it has spread very quickly in just a short time. We've also seen that animals can also be affected, we must proceed with the utmost caution!"

"Don't forget that the zombies habe been growing stronger!" Ed added.

"He's right. You saw what happened back at the cliffs!" Nazz stated, shuddering as she the image of the Deerhaunters emerging from the woods came back to her.

"If we must face this danger..." Rolf said, removing his shirt and placing a Davy Crockett style hat on his head, his parents adorning similar clothes made if sheep's wool and various other furs. "Then we shall face it head onwards as warriors!"

This proclamation stirred everyone's confidence and got everyone motivated.

"So, what are we waiting for?!" Eddy asked, "Let's find this place!"

The shortest Ed began to walk Eastward, a confident atride in his step that made Lee swoon a bit at how her crush appeared to have the attitude that made her fall for him in the first place. The others except for Kathy and Double D followed him.

"Eddy, the compound is to the West, you all are going the wrong way!"

Eddy stayed silent as everyone turned around, he still had the confident demeanor though now he also blushed a bit in embarrassment and sweated a bit at his mistake.

"Dork." Kevin chuckled playfully as he lightly punched Eddy's arm.

* * *

The large plane that Double D and Kathy's parents were currently in was now landing at an airfield at some sort of military base.

"The scientists have all been transported into the labs, Terry." The agent known as David stated.

"Good, but... I haven't exactly been honest with you, my name is not Terry."

"I'm disappointed, but not surprised." David said flatly.

"Anyway, the scientists are cooperating. It'll take a few months but once everything is done maybe society can return to normal... Also, Dave, call me Russ."

"Very well... Russ." David said as he left his superior alone. The government agent, now known as Russ took out some sort of schematic showing the design if sone sort of titanic robot...

* * *

Meanwhile Double D's parents and Kathy's father were brought to a large factory alongside several dozen other scientists from Canada ans the U.S.

Most if them were terrified about being brought to this strange area. Thise that weren't were already scientists of the base, and the heads if the construction and development of whatever was being produced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you may he wondering why you have all been brought here. With the recent plague devastating the Americas, we have been gathered to develop something that will bring an end to this horror and all of us shall be producing it." One if the lead scientists said, several agents wearing black suits or uniforms sinilar to the military stood beside them.

"I refuse to take part in this! You have forced me away from my family and-"

The scientist that had refused to cooperate with the demands of the heads was immediately shot dead by the agents with no hesitation.

"Let that he a lesson to you." The head scientist continued. "If you don't cooperate, you will be terminated. Simple as that."

Mrs. Drummond cried silently as she kept a firm grip on her husband's hand. The fear for their lives as the lives of their child and his friends was torturing them. Mr. Drummond looked over to Mr. Barr, they had never really known each other they had been taken out of Canada, but he was the only ally that he had right now.

* * *

 **No choices for this chapter but there will be one in the chapters to come.**


	16. Terra Incognita

**With the group now in the United States, the level of danger has increased drastically, there is no telling what could be lurking in the shadows. But there is a target destination to reach...**

* * *

The group had set up camp for the night, managing to hike Westward quite a bit. Though it was difficult for them to tell as for as far as they walked it was just mountainous terrain and trees as far as they could see...

"So how many much longer 'till we get there?" Eddy asked impatiently.

"Patience Flat-Headed Ed-Boy, complaining about the remaining distance to the sanctuary will not let us arrive there more quickly." Rolf replied, whittling a large branch's edge to a sharp point.

"Rolf's right, Eddy. We have to be patient as we still have a ways to go before we reach that compound." Double D added.

"Yeah, it might be a zombie apocalypse, but enjoy the nice, clean air!" Matt added, half-joking. Everyone was half expecting Ed to respond in some way but he was actually silent.

"Ed?" Double D asked, he looked around and saw that Ed wasn't with them, sitting around the campfire that everyone else was seated around.

"Ed?!" Some of the others called out.

"Hey Lumpy!" Kevin and Eddy yelled together, Kevin had adopted the nickname some time after the events of the Big Picture Show.

The sound of a zipper opening prompted everyone to turn their heads towards their tents.

"Hello!" Ed said cheerfully as he stuck his head out if the tent.

"Oh, you must have been asleep! Please forgive us Ed." Double D apologized.

"Oh no I wasn't sleeping, I was taking notes Double D!"

"Notes? Notes of what?!" Eddy asked, confused and annoyed at Ed's seemingly useless studying.

"Notes about the zombies! See?" Ed took out a lead pencil and book that he had been writing in. Kathy took the book and looked at it, Sarah, Jimmy, and Erin all crowded around her in curiosity at what Ed had done.

Within the book were drawings of the differing types of zombies they had encountered so far alongside some rather scarce information about them.

'zombie: can be slow or fast, very powerful, normally in grouos of 3 or more'

'rock zombie: just like a normal zombie but its skin is hard as rock, guns dont hurt it'

'animal zombie: a zombie animal'

'deerhaunter: a zombie deer that walks on two legs and tried to ram you with its horns'

'James: a friend that was turned into a zombie'

As the book was being passed around, the Peach Creek group began to habe solemn look on their faces upon seeing that Ed didn't draw a picture of James, but instead taped his yearbook picture to his notebook.

"This is actually rather impressive! Eddward, you must see this!" Kathy said, handing Double D the journal, Eddy and most of the teens crowded around to see.

"Woah." Kevin said, an impressed look on his face.

"Who ever knew the oaf-ish Ed-boy had such artistic talent!" Rolf inquired. The drawings Ed had done for each different type of zombie were detailed but not to a disturbing extent, he had even included several anatomical poses for each zombie and even a sort of grading scale that determined the level of danger that each enemy gave off.

"Is it really that good?!" Ed asked with excitement.

"Of course, Ed. The descriptions are a bit crude but Katherine and I would be willing to change that if that's alright. It is your journal after all." Double D requested.

Ed jumped at the idea and handed the two intellectually gifted teens pencils. The two went right to work while Ed joined everyone at the campfire. Everyone gave Ed a few words of priase before returning to their own conversations.

May looked nervous as she finished piling a can of instant mashed potatoes and gravy onto a paper plate from the supplies they had in Canada. She took a deep breath before walking towards Ed with the plate.

She stood in front of him, she was extrenely nervous but it was impossible to tell from her appearance. Ed looked confused and even a bit nervous himself as to why she was now in front of him.

Ed smiled politely and thanked May for the food. She went back to join her sisters and watched Ed happily devour the food.

"You're making progress May." Lenore said smiling at her daughter. Beneath the hair covering her eyes, Lee looked at Eddy and reflected on how they interacted since the Big Picture Show.

The Eds still avoided the Kankers as much as possible but ever since that day they've been a bit more lax around the Eds and, in turn, the Eds have been a bit less fearful of them. Eddy and Lee themselves began casually speaking to each other more after everyone returned to the cul-de-sac after the movie, eventually the rest of the kids accepted them after they began to mellow out. It took quite a while for everyone in the neighborhood to accept them into their circle of friends but by the time all of them (not including Sarah and Jimmy, as they were younger than everyone else) had graduated middle school and were heading to high school, there was little to no animosity between any of them.

Eventually everyone headed to sleep, they would need an early start for the morning.

* * *

Double D woke up the next morning to the sound of chuckling, his eyes were closed though so he could not see who it was. Whoever it was though, there were about four of them, their laughter was controlled, as though the ones laughing were desperately trying to keep their voice down, like a couple of kids trying to pull a prank.

As Double D opened his eyes he was met with the faces of Ed, Eddy, Kevin, and Matt. They were giving him looks that appeared to be envious, yet also a bit of pity. As the intelligent teen vecame aware of his surroundings, he began to realize why he was getting those looks. To his left was Kathy, sleeping on his arm holding Ed's journal and to his right was Marie, holding into his arm and using it as a pillow.

"Way to go, man!" Matt whispered, he and Kevin giving Double D a thumbs up.

"Aren't you a lucky guy, Casanova!" Eddy whispered in a mocking tone.

"This is just like a scene from a soap-opera my mom and I used to watch called 'La Forma Del Amor'!" Ed added, garnering looks of shock and confusion from the other boys.

"What?" Ed asked. "Soap-operas are really fun to watch!"

"Well, despite the rather, um... suggestive situation I've awoken to..." Double D began, Kathy rolled away from him, letting go of Double D as he slipped his arm away from Marie to get dressed. "We still have about another day or so before we reach the compound, so it would be best if we woke everyone else up and began moving."

"Exactly as Rolf and his family were up to, Double D Ed-Boy!"

The boys left the tent that everyone was in saw Rolf and his family preparing to move.

"Rolf and his parents here woke us up, we saw what was going on with you and couldn't help ourselves." Kevin explained. "Speaking of which, why are you up so early, Rolf?"

"Rolf's family always wakes up early, Kevin! We work in the fields during the morning hour in order to get the most out of our day."

"Well if we do have to get moving, we should wake everyone up." Matt said.

"HEY! EVERYBODY GET UP!" Eddy shouted.

"BACK OFF FISHFACE!" Sarah shouted back at him, the force of her voice knocking the boys down.

* * *

The sun continued to rise as the group continued hiking. It was relatively quiet aside from the small conversations a few of the teens had.

"Ed." Kathy said, getting the large boy's attention. "Edward and I finished working on your journal, you can have it back now."

Ed accepted his journal and eagerly looked through it, his drawings remained unchanged, but the information regarding the different types of zombie was now much more detailed, with nearly the entire page being full of information.

"Cool!" Ed said in excitement, reading through the information the two smart teens had included as though he was reading a comic book.

Jonny held Plank close to him as he looked around the wilderness in amazement. He had explored the woods around the cul-de-sac many times and now that he was in wooded area that he had never been in before he felt excited and calm despite the circumstances of why he was there. He was with his friends, old and new, and right now he felt that so long as they stuck together, they'd be alright.

He looked over to Nazz and noticed that she looked depressed...

"Nazz, are you okay?" He asked. He didn't mean to draw so much attention to them but suddenly, all of the teens were looking at them with concern.

"I'm fine, it's just... You guys know what today was supposed to be, right?" Nazz asked. Everyone was silent, wondering what Nazz was implying until Double D caught on to what was making her upset.

"Oh... It was supposed to be today, wasn't it." Double D sighed.

"What? What was supposed to be today?" Janyse asked.

"Our graduation."

The general aura everyone had was now suddenly somber and depressing. There they were, a group of kids, most of them about to graduate high school, now forced to survive in a country they've never been in before because of a zombie apocalypse.

They continued to walk silently as the revelation took its toll on them all. Despite the negativity, Ed tried to think positive thoughts, like how he made so many new friends like Matt and Janyse in high school...

* * *

 _A refreshing breeze blew through Peach Creek, it was early September and the school buz had just picked everyone up for their first day of school. Ed felt nervous about his first day, he had his two best friends by his side and now all of the kids liked him too, even Jonny was his friend, even after the whole 'Gourd' issue._

 _The teens all stepped off the bus and looked at Peach Creek High, it was much bigger than Peach Creek Middle School, having four floors as opposed the the Middle School's two. It had everything the Middle School had in terms of extra-curricular activities and locations like the football field, library, and so on._

 _Eddy lead the trio forward to their homeroom, which they were thankfully sharing. As they were heading to their lockers, Ed was having a bit of difficulty opening his but did finally manage to open it... While simultaneously slamming it in his face._

 _"Ed! Are you alright?" Double D asked. Eddy couldn't help but laugh at Ed._

 _"What's so funny about your friend getting hit in the face?" A girl asked from behind Eddy._

 _The girl wore a purple shirt that showed her shoulders, red pants that showed her ankles and black boots. Her hair was jet black and her eyes were serious but not exactly angry, her lips were coated in crimson lipstick._

 _"Huh? Nothin', its not like Ed's actually hurt bad, besides the guy's my best friend. Who are you?"_

 _"Janyse. I'm surprised you didn't learn it the first time considering we have the same homeroom." Janyse said sternly, glaring at Eddy, who glared right back._

 _The force of the locker door was enough to knock him down, several comics slid out of Ed's jacket._

 _"Hey, is he alright?" A boy asked. This boy wore a green shirt and blue jeans with blue sneakers, his hair was ragged and brown. He helped Ed up to his feet and then noticed some of the comic books._

 _"Hey, you read Evil Tim, too?!" The boy asked._

 _"Yeah! It's awesome!" Ed said in excitement._

 _The boy turned his attention to Janyse and seemed to be instantly smitten. January noticed this and gave him a friendly smile and a wave. The school bell went off and everybody, including Janyse headed to class._

 _"Oh, we can't be late to class on our first day. Thank you for helping Ed, um..." Double D said._

 _"Matthew, my name is Matthew, but you guys can call me Matt."_

 _Ed would be separated from his fellow Eds for his first class and was more nervous than ever. He walked into the classroom and recognized nobody there... Well, almost nobody. There was a rather large boy wearing a blue shirt, red pants and a red baseball cap._

 _"Hiya, Ed!"_

 _"James!"_

 _Ed recognized James from his time in Peach Creek Jr. High and even though they didn't really talk to much, they were friends who chatted about the newest monster movie that was coming out. In fact, Ed actually got his iconic 'Baron O' Beef Dip' figure as a gift from him during his 10th birthday._

 _Even though he was nervoud about school, Ed thought that if he had his friends, he would be okay..._

* * *

"Hey! Check it out, a cabin!"

Terry pointed out a wooden cabin surrounded by trees. It had no windows and two doors, ine in front and one in the back left. A wooden chimney struck out in the back center.

"How cliché..." Jimmy noted.

"Do you think someone lives in it?" Erin asked.

"Wait! Sshhh!" Tony hushed. Everyone listened and heard the voices of a group of men quickly approaching their location.

Nobody was sure what to do but there seemed to be three things they could possibly do...

* * *

 **Make your choice...**

 **Option A:** Hide in the wooden cabin.

 **Option B:** Run away and keep heading to the compound.

 **Option C:** Take the chance with the group of men.

 **The choice is yours...**

* * *

 **End of chapter.**

 **Additionally, if you readers are interested, I could include the data entries Double D and Kathy included in Ed's journal.**


End file.
